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All material copyright 2004-2010 Mike MaloneyPersonal - Can I object? How about strenuously object?]]>strangers that have absolutely nothing in common with each other aside from the fact that they all live in the same county, are grouped together and forced to spend the next however many number of days in each others company for 8 hours a day, either sitting next to each other taking notes, or confined to a small jury room during breaks. This group of strangers is then charged with intaking all the facts and circumstances surrounding some kind of situation, and then the group of strangers are supposed to go back to their little jury room, and all reach a consensus agreement on what they think about the happenings of the entire trial. And then, just like that, the strangers pack up their stuff, put on their coats, and leave the courthouse, never to see each other again. How bizarre.

The strangeness of it all didn't really hit me until I left the courthouse. I was making small talk with one of the other jurors in the elevator, discussing how the verdict went, etc. Then she headed out the South exit of the building, while I headed towards the East exit. We both said good-bye, nice to meet you, because really, what else can you say to someone you just met yesterday and are never going to see again? Then we headed our separate ways, with memories of an experience that was shared with only 10 other complete strangers.

I'm not going to get too much into the details of the case (It wasn't a terribly exciting case to be honest), but I did want to talk about my experience as a whole, as I felt like that was the interesting part of it all. This was my first time reporting for jury duty, and therefore my first time being selected as a juror. Looking back I think the circumstances for myself were pretty ideal. I had to report to the Daley Center downtown in the Loop as it was a civil case, instead of the courthouse at 26th and California for a criminal case, which I've heard is not a very nice neighborhood. It's very close to where I live so I was able to walk (In contrast someone had come up from 203rd St or something ridiculous like that, basically as far South into Cook County as you can go). The case I was selected for was only a two day trial, instead of something that could have lasted weeks. And the stakes in the case were relatively low (Which I know is a matter of perspective, the total damages that the plaintiffs were seeking was around $15-20,000 which to me is a lot of money, but it could be much, much worse), so I felt like it was a lower pressure situation than it could have been, at least from a juror's perspective.

I showed up at 9:30am, and in contrast to many of the waiting horror stories I had heard, I was only waiting for an hour until my group number was called and we were marched up to our courtroom. There were 28 of us, and the judge explained that this was just a two day trial and that 14 of us would be selected. Once I realized half of us were getting picked I just had this feeling in my gut that I was going to be one of the jurors. There were clearly a couple of characters in the group based on their answers to the questions, but overall it seemed like a relatively normal group of people. After a couple hours the questions were done, the lawyers had picked their 14, and those who were not picked were free to go about their day while the rest of us set up shop in the jury room to eat free Cook County sandwiches before getting around to opening statements. I emailed my boss and texted my wife to let them know my next couple of days were going to be occupied.

The actual trial went about as one would expect, we as a culture have been so inundated with courtroom drama on TV that watching it all play out in real life is pretty standard fare. Sure the courtrooms aren't quite as flashy, the lawyers aren't quite as well spoken and there wasn't much of a crowd to spectate, but you've got your opening statements, your witnesses, your court reporters, your cross examinations, your objections, everything you'd come to expect. I didn't care much for the lead plaintiff's attorney, he was a little slimy and would continue to try and hammer away at the same question or area even after the defense attorney successfully objected to the questions. Several times this led to a sidebar with the judge, one time even pushing us into a recess so the judge could get things straightened out. It got a little tiresome. The defendant's attorney was pretty aggressive, she loved nothing more than to object to everything the plaintiff's attorney had to say whether she had a chance or not, and she definitely gave it to a couple of witnesses during cross-examination. It was kind of cool to see the clashing personalities.

Day one was mostly without incident, although the toughest part was when the plaintiff's kids came in to testify. Most of the jurors were just uncomfortable about the whole thing, because you hate to see kids put in a serious situation like this, and their testimony isn't likely to be too useful since they're kids (8 and 10 at that, it's not like they're teenagers). It was quite difficult going home at the end of the day knowing you can't talk about the details of the case. Especially since generally conversations at home tend to be about, you know, how your day went.

So today rolled around, I got to the courthouse and headed straight to the confines of our cozy Jury Room. Apparently our friend way down on 203rd St. was unable to join us for day two for some reason, but I also learned that that wasn't the end of the world, because we only needed 12 people here to get started (I learned why later on). Day two went by relatively incident-free, and I was actually surprised because the defense's case actually only involved one witness, the defendant herself, and then that was it.

And oh my gosh, the closing arguments. Wow. I actually thought the lawyers handled themselves pretty well for the most part during the trial, but that all went out the window for the closing arguments. I felt like I was watching a political debate it was so ridiculous. Each side's closing argument could basically be summed up by saying “CLEARLY my client is at no fault here and I don't see how you could see it any other way and you should find in favor of my client for all these million reasons some of which aren't even remotely true but I'll say them anyway even though you can just fact check them with your notes and know they're lies also my client didn't do anything obviously so find in favor with my client. Seriously though, they didn't do anything. AT ALL.” Only it was much less funny and lasted about a half hour. KILL ME NOW. I did my best to try and look as bored as possible for both of them in the hopes that they would get the hint and shut up. It was so completely useless and boring. After that the judge out of nowhere called out one of the juror's names seemingly at random and told them to pack up their stuff and go. As I said before we only had 13 jurors today, and the whole time I thought it was odd that we had 14 jurors selected as I thought a jury was 12 people. Well, turns out two are alternates and when it comes down to it only 12 of us got to decide on the verdict. I have no idea if the 13th juror was selected at random or if he was always an alternate. Anyway, then the judge gave us our instructions and sent us on our merry way to decide on a verdict.

I ended up being elected foreman of the jury. Okay, well maybe I volunteered and no one else volunteered, and maybe I kind of wanted to because I'm a bit of a control freak (Stop nodding your head knowingly) and deep in my brain I think things will run more smoothly if I'm in charge of things. I don't remember how long we ended up deliberating, it was probably a couple of hours. It's actually funny, the quickest part of the process was deciding to find in favor of the plaintiff. The hard part was assigning percentages of negligence to both sides and agreeing on monetary damages to pay out. It was during this process that you really notice the flaws in both the plaintiff's and the defendant's cases. There was definitely key information that was inexplicably missing, which did nothing but make our jobs harder as we had to try and piece together what had happened as best we could.

Oh, and also, the lying. I know I'm probably just naive, but I figured all the lying you saw under oath on TV was just for dramatic effect. I can tell you that no it is not. Both the plaintiff and the defendant pretty clearly lied about their story of events, which wasn't even that hard to figure out based on the other evidence that came to light. So not only do you not have important information that would help you shape the case, but you have lies on both sides and have to try and wade through that and figure out what's real and what's not. Like I said, this is why I was glad to have a relatively low profile case and not someone who's on trial for murder or anything like that.

We had one guy on the jury who had pretty differing views from us on how things should play out from a monetary standpoint, and that ended up being the biggest roadblock for us. It was a discussion surrounding a monetary award for pain and suffering, and in my opinion he was trying to bring aspects in that really weren't part of what we should be talking about. I think ultimately he felt bad that the plaintiff was primarily a victim in all of this but she was still going to be at a loss when it was all said and done as she was partially at fault and also having to pay out lawyer's fees, stuff like that. I could certainly sympathize with where he was coming from but as the jury we had to focus on what we're supposed to think about, and stuff like lawyer's fees don't come into play.

Eventually we all got on the same page, I don't think the other guy was totally happy with how things played out, but he agreed with everyone else and signed the verdict. I'm not gonna lie, when the judge read out the verdict, I didn't make eye contact with either side of the case. I knew it was a situation where neither party would be very happy (The plaintiff wouldn't be happy because she wasn't getting her full reward, and the defendant wouldn't be happy because she was found mostly negligible and had to pay out a good amount of money), and I didn't really feel like seeing either's reaction. Once we were excused, we went back to our room, collected our $34.20 ($17.20 a day baby, BIG BUCKS), put on our coats and said bye to everyone. The judge told us if we wanted to we could stick around afterwards as the lawyers wanted to ask us a bit about the process, so I stuck around and another juror did as well. They didn't ask us anything too hard hitting, and I was a little bummed out that I didn't get to tell them how poorly they handled certain parts of their case, but whatever.

And just like that, it's back to work tomorrow. While I didn't enjoy the work piling up while I was out of the office for two days, I will say I'm thankful for the experience. It was such a neat look into an area of life that you rarely encounter, and the prospect of being a juror is something I may never get to experience again. I am very glad that at the end of the day it was a relatively painless process, and frankly the whole thing was fascinating. At least fascinating enough that I spent the entire walk home thinking about how I was going to approach the blog post that I was going to write about it that night. Well, that and which movie I was going to reference for the title of the blog post. Fortunately for A Few Good Men it was on TV when I went to bed last night, so they won the honors. No offense to Joe Pesci or Henry Fonda of course.

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Personal - How much is that in Internet money?]]>-----

I had kind of an interesting morning today. Well, interesting to me, at least, probably not as interesting to some of you. Generally when I wake up in the morning, I do a quick check of my phone to see what emails I received overnight and check my Twitter feed. This morning there was an email from someone letting me know that my Chronologically LOST site had been featured in a popular Reddit post. For those of you who may not know, Chronologically LOST was a project I put together a couple years ago where I took the entirety of the show LOST and rearranged it in chronological order. It was an alternative way of looking at the show, kind of provided a different perspective on things.

Anyway, as I said, I did this a couple years ago when LOST ended, and since then I've maintained a torrent of all the episodes for people to download. The sender of the email was a Reddit user asking me to help seed the torrent since there were a lot of people expressing interest. If you're unfamiliar with Reddit, it's sort of a social bookmarking site. Someone finds an interesting site, they post it to Reddit under a certain subsection (called a subreddit), other users see it, and can upvote it if they, too, find it interesting. Enough people vote for it, it becomes a popular post and eventually can find its way onto the front page where all Redditors will see it. I've seen some traffic spikes before from a Redditor posting about the site in the LOST subreddit, but since there aren't a ton of people reading that section, the traffic spikes aren't anything too significant. Well, this time the post was made in a popular subreddit that had over 2 million followers. So yeah...that's a lot of people.

The first thing I did after I read the email was go and hop on the computer to check my Google Analytics page. I can go on there and get all sorts of details about my site traffic, how much, where it's from, what sites people were referred by, things like that. At around 7 in the morning, my site already had over 20,000 hits. Now, I know that 20,000 hits isn't really that big of a number in the grand scheme of things (I'd say it's only 0.002% of the traffic of Psy's Gangnam Style video, but I won't because then it just seems sad), but in my world, that's a hell of a lot of traffic. The biggest single day of traffic Chronologically LOST had ever had was the summer after I finished the project, Jezebel wrote an article about it. It got me about 6,000 hits. Now it's first thing in the morning and I'm watching the traffic double to 45,000 hits in about a half an hour. Then I go look at the Reddit front page:

My site is now the top post on the front page on Reddit. I'm not a huge Reddit user, but I am on there occasionally and I certainly appreciate what a popular site it's become. So yeah, that was kind of cool. I spent a good part of my morning in that Reddit post, thanking everyone for deciding my LOST project was something of interest, and responding to some people's comments or questions they had about the project. Naturally I was also refreshing my Google Analytics page frequently during all of this to watch my page hits go up.

Eventually as the morning went on, my site dropped down to number two on the front page. Then number four. Then when I checked again it had dropped off completely. And shockingly my site traffic also died down right around that time. Twelve hours later as I look at my Analytics page I've had 105,000 hits today. To put that into perspective, my site as a whole before today had 89,000 hits total. My busiest month gave me 21,000 hits. I had 24,000 hits between 7:00 and 8:00 this morning. So for me, this was just a crazy amount of traffic. And as quickly as it had showed up it left, which is generally how those things tend to work. But it was fun to see something that I had worked on receive a brief moment of popularity in some corner of the internet. And mostly I was happy that a whole bunch of people that I hadn't been able to reach the last couple of years know about the project and can watch it if they want. I even had a soldier that's currently deployed in Afghanistan email me and ask if I could mail him the series on a flash drive since he doesn't have the bandwidth there to download the whole thing.

The whole time I couldn't help but think of the South Park episode “Canada on Strike” (This was poking fun at the 2008 Writer's Guild Strike). Canada felt that no one took them seriously, so they went on strike for more money. Since no one wanted to pay them any money, they kept going on about how they should get some Internet money that people get from all those popular sites and videos.

I've been trying to find the address or phone number for the Illinois Department of Internet Money, as I've been doing the calculations and I figure today's events should be worth at least two hundred theoretical dollars. I'll be rolling in the dough soon enough!

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One more thing, after writing this post I will say that I miss my Wordpress template that I've installed over on the Oratory. While I've always enjoyed having my own blog that works with my own code, I do really like posting from Wordpress. I think I may have to look into moving my content over into WP. Maybe we'll set that as a 2013 goal.

Welcome to Part 2 of our NBA Playoff Preview, where we'll be looking at the Eastern Conference matchups. If you missed Part 1, you can read it here.

(1) Chicago vs. (8) Indiana

There isn't too much to say about this matchup. The Pacers could pose some problems for the Bulls as they're a smaller, more athletic team which can be tough for the Bulls to handle at times. That being said, the Pacers are 37-45 and allow over 100 points per game. Plus, there's this gem from Danny Granger when discussing the prospect of facing either the Celtics or the Bulls:

"Boston's a different monster," he said. "They don't have the best record in the East, but they won championships; they know how to do it. They have four, five guys you have to worry about.

"Chicago, they go as Derrick Rose goes. If you make a concerted effort to stop Derrick Rose, you have a better chance of beating them."

Now, Derrick Rose is no Michael Jordan. He's not going to spend all series shutting down Granger single-handedly or dropping 50 points in Game 1 to prove a point. However, he does bear a resemblance to Jordan in that he remembers slights like that. It doesn't take much, but you want to throw out any disrespect in his direction, he'll take it in, and use it as motivation to beat you the next time you play. The Pacers don't need any help to lose this series, so it was a somewhat foolish comment on Granger's part.

By now everyone knows the story of the Bulls. After winning 42 games last year, the team brought in a new head coach (Tom Thibodeau), a new All-Star caliber forward (Carlos Boozer), and a bunch of role players (Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer, Keith Bogans, CJ Watson) to complement the existing core of players (Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah, and Taj Gibson). 62 wins later, they have the best record in the NBA, the probable NBA MVP (Rose), potential Coach of the Year (Thibodeau), and lead the league in defensive efficiency and are second in rebounding per game (44.2) behind Minnesota while leading in rebounding differential (+5.8). While Rose is the clear leader of the team, scoring 25.0ppg, they also have secondary scorers in Deng and Boozer scoring 17.5ppg, and Noah also averaging double digits at 11.7ppg. They are also a deep team, with eight players averaging over 20 minutes a game, and another three playing at least 12 a game. It should be interesting to see how this plays out in the postseason, as teams generally stick to a seven or eight man rotation and put more minutes on their starters.

One of the big criticisms of the Bulls right now is their lack of playoff success. In the past two years Rose's Bulls have gone out in the first round, although they took the Celtics to seven games in a memorable series in 2009 and falling to the top seeded Cavs in five games last year, so the odds were stacked against them in both years. They should be able to overcome that issue this year with an easy matchup against the worst team in the playoffs, getting them some confidence heading into the second round, as well as some more time for Joakim Noah to fully recover from his sprained ankle. The Pacers may be able to sneak in a win in Indiana, but don't be surprised to see a flat out sweep either.

Bulls in 4

(2) Miami vs. (7) Philadelphia

The Heat went through a rough stretch in late February/early March where they lost six of seven games to the Bulls (twice), the Knicks, the Magic, the Spurs, and the Blazers. Since then, they've gone 15-3 including a big win over Boston to take over the #2 seed in the playoffs. Watching them the last few weeks, it looks like they might be figuring it out. However, their success could also be a little over-inflated considering their last ten games, only two (Boston and Atlanta) were against actual playoff teams. But watching them, it seems as though Wade and James might be getting it a little bit better. At the very least they should have it together enough to dispatch the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Sixers are a bit of a feel good story, overachieving their way to a .500 record with new coach Doug Collins and a relatively unheralded cast of characters. Elton Brand (15.0ppg, 8.3rpg) and Andre Iguodala (14.1ppg, 5.8rpg, 6.3apg) are the two main talents on this team, and they're surrounded by role players like Thaddeus Young and Jrue Holiday. However, unfortunately for the Sixers, the Heat's main weakness (size in the frontcourt) is not something the Sixers are able to take advantage of, with the plodding Spencer Hawes starting at center (Sharing time with Marreese Speights and Tony Battie), and an effective but not overly big Elton Brand in the frontcourt.

Miami's defense will also wreak havoc on the Sixers, as the Heat come into the series fifth in defensive efficiency while Philadelphia is only seventeenth in offensive efficiency. Miami is sixth in the league in points allowed per game (94.6) and second in field goal % allowed (43.0%). With Lebron James on Iguodala the Sixers will be very dependent on Elton Brand to put up big numbers, as he's their main offensive threat that will have a favorable defensive matchup against Chris Bosh. The Heat won the season series 3-0 and each game was won by at least 9 points. Look for Miami to have similar success in the playoffs and Philly would be fortunate to even win a game.

Heat in 4

(3) Boston vs. (6) New York

Well, this is certainly one of the more intriguing first round matchups. There are quite a few different storylines to look at in this series. There is the sharp contrast in styles, with New York's high-flying offense (while little-to-no defense being played) compared to Boston's commitment to being a defense-first team, while struggling at times on the offensive end. There's the question mark surrounding Boston's struggles lately, specifically Rajon Rondo. There's Amare & Carmelo on a team that is on paper inferior to the Celtics, but at the same time are true bonafide superstars capable of winning games for the Knicks. The expected result is that Boston will end up defeating the Knicks, but there are enough question marks to at least make it interesting.

Now, there's not much too the Knicks. They score a conference best 106.5ppg. They also give up a conference worst 105.7ppg. Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire, Chauncey Billups, Shawne Williams, these guys are not really leading candidates for the All-Defense Team. Their best defender might be Ronny Turiaf, and he plays 18 minutes a game. That being said, they have Amare averaging 25.3ppg and 8.2rpg while shooting 50.2% from the field. Carmelo Anthony is averaging 26.3ppg with 6.7rpg and shooting 46.1% from the field and an impressive 42.4% from three. Anthony is also arguably the most dangerous shooter in end of game situations, so if the Knicks can keep it close with the Celtics he could be a huge asset for them in a game.

Then there's the Celtics. Some analysts are trying to cling to the idea that the Celtics struggled down the stretch in 2010, the turned it on in the playoffs and never looked back. But that was a different team. They struggled to find cohesiveness down the stretch and they had the characteristics of a veteran team that struggles to play at its peak in the regular season. This year? The team looked fine, they looked cohesive. They can't blame injuries, as Paul Pierce and Ray Allen both played 80 games, Kevin Garnett played 71, Rondo played 68. The problem? Kendrick Perkins. Yes, he only played in 12 games for them this season after tearing his ACL in the NBA Finals last season. But, as has been discussed in the media ad nauseum, he was an integral part to the team's chemistry. Perkins, Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Garnett, that was their starting five, that was their strength. That was the lineup that Doc Rivers proclaimed never lost a playoff series. Then he was traded to the Thunder. And what changed in the Celtics was anything specific on the court. Again, he only played in 12 games. It was deeper than that. It affected the other Celtics players personally. And none more than Rondo. Perkins was Rondo's one good friend on the team. It can't be sheer coincidence that the noticeable decline in his numbers coincides with Perkins' trade. His April stats are terrible, shooting 40.3% from the field, 9.5apg, 1.pg, and he hasn't made a three pointer since February (0-7 in March, 0-5 in April). Compare this to his pre-All-Star break numbers, he was shooting 50.2% from the field, averaging 12.2apg, 2.pg, and was at least shooting 30.0% from behind the arc.

It's clear from watching him that his game is a complete mess, his head is totally out of it, and his issues have plagued the rest of the team. Rondo doesn't get enough credit for helping the Celtics win the title in 2008, and he has been the team's best player the last two years. He is the point guard, he sets the tempo and flow for that team. Whatever he was doing earlier this season, it's completely gone right now, and it shows when watching the Celtics' offense. Their defense is still very effective, and because of that they should be able to stop the Knicks enough to win the series. However, it's not out of the realm of possibility for the Knicks to cause trouble for the Celtics, especially if Rondo continues to struggle.

Boston in 6

(4) Orlando vs. (5) Atlanta

There is this fantasy world where some of us would like to live in, where the Atlanta Hawks can utilize the immense talents of Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Al Horford, and Jamal Crawford, and put together a scary team that can compete in the Eastern Conference. However, in the real world, instead there is the dysfunctional Hawks that have all the talent in the world, and not a single clue on how to actually take that talent and put it into a team. They don't try hard, they don't listen to their coach, they don't play with an identity. It's possibly one of the most frustrating things to watch in the NBA, because everyone is so blatantly aware of their underachieving, and yet no one on the Hawks seems to care or want to do anything about it. Josh Smith puts up 16.5ppg and 8.5rpg, but settles too much for long jump shots instead of using his power to take the ball to the rim. Joe Johnson averages 18.2ppg with 4.0rpg and 4.7apg, but seems to be somewhat lethargic now that the Hawks are paying him $120 million. Al Horford scores 15.3ppg to go along with 9.3rpg and is one of the most dynamic big men in the league, but should really be playing power forward and doesn't always get to play his true position. Jamal Crawford is a great burst of energy off the bench but can be inconsistent and takes ridiculous shots at times and needs to be reined in. Kirk Hinrich is a solid defender but is not a great scorer. And so on. The team is an unfortunate mess, and instead of being one of the top teams in the conference, they stumbled to a 44-38 record. There is Jason Collins to think about, who had a lot of success guarding Dwight Howard this year and helped the Hawks take the season series 3-1, but they need more than that if they're going to win a best-of-seven series.

Now, the Magic are not without their dysfunction. They had an aging Vince Carter starting for them, and an overpaid Marcin Gortat rotting away on their bench, along with a struggling Rashard Lewis really hurting the team offensively. They traded these pieces away, and added a solid scorer in Jason Richardson, a backup point guard in Gilbert Arenas, and the return of Hedo Turkoglu after walking when the Magic wouldn't give him the contract he wanted. But after bombing in Toronto and Phoenix, he's back with Orlando. Dwight Howard is still the center of the team, putting up ridiculous numbers, 22.9ppg, 14.1rpg, 2.38bpg. Jason Richardson gives them a nice second scoring option, averaging 13.9ppg and shooting 38.4% from three. Hedo Turkoglu has filled in the void Rashard Lewis left, averaging 11.4ppg and shooting 40.4% from three. Jameer Nelson averages 13.1ppg and shoots 40.1% from three. Off the bench Ryan Anderson shoots 39.3% from three. JJ Redick shoots 39.7% from three. See a trend developing here? Orlando lives, and dies, by the three point shot. They can absolutely murder teams with a barrage of three point shooting. But on the flip side, if the shot's not there, they are a very vulnerable team.

Again, in theory it would be nice to see Atlanta show up with a chip on their shoulder, some kind of attitude or edge, or really any kind of anything that would make you believe they have a shot in this series. But instead they'll probably treat us all with their usual messy inconsistent play while Orlando moves on to the next round.

Orlando in 5

No big surprises in Round 1, all the favorites should win with relative ease. Round 2 would give us Chicago/Orlando and the much anticipated Boston/Miami matchup. With Orlando's perimeter shooting prowess, they have the ability to beat anyone, but Chicago's ability to throw big men onto Dwight Howard without having to focus too much attention on double teaming him should be able to limit their offensive ability enough to win that series, probably in six games. Boston might be able to struggle their way past the Knicks, but Miami will present too great of a challenge, especially with home court advantage. Miami steals one in Boston and takes all their momentum to close out the Celtics in five. Miami/Chicago is an appropriate conference final matchup, as those two teams have clearly been the top two teams in the East. Chicago has history going against it as teams that didn't win a playoff series the year before generally do not make it to the NBA Finals. However, the Bulls have the best defense in the NBA, they have the league's MVP, they have a deeper team than the Heat, and they have more focus and determination to win, and do it as a team, than anyone else in the conference. Either team could win this series, but ultimately the Bulls will win in seven.

So, to recap:

Bulls over Pacers in 4
Heat over 76ers in 4
Celtics over Knicks in 6
Orlando over Altanta in 5

Bulls over Magic in 6
Heat over Celtics in 5

Bulls over Heat in 7

And, for the NBA Finals, I think the Bulls' determination only takes them so far. The Boozer vs. Bynum/Odom matchup will be the downfall of the Bulls, and their lack of experience will definitely play more of a factor against a veteran, polished team like the Lakers. Lakers win another three peat in six games.

Hello everyone, with an incredibly anticipated set of playoffs this year, I'm here with a preview of each matchup. This will be a two-parter, and the first part will take a look at the Western Conference, with part two covering, you guessed it, the Eastern Conference. I've added in my predictions for each series, and then at the end I've got my predictions for how the rest of the bracket will play out. Let's get started...

(1) San Antonio vs. (8) Memphis

Well, the Spurs have once again had another ho hum 60-win season. Tim Duncan, who is now approaching 50 years of age, has his team ready to go as the number one seed in the Western Conference. Well, it's not quite as much Tim Duncan's team as in years past, with The Big Fundamental only averaging 28 minutes a game to go along with 13.4ppg and 8.9rpg, all easily career lows for him. But, in his fourteenth season, he can't go all out and play the 35+ minutes a game that he was playing a few years ago. And so the Spurs have adapted. Gregg Popovich has the team putting up an obscene 103.7ppg, by far their highest average in the past 10 years. The only year that comes close is last year when they averaged 101.4ppg. However, they've also taken on a different identity on defense, as well. Gone are the days of giving up an average of 85ppg. Instead they're giving up 98ppg, and are 11th in defensive efficiency.

While their defense may not draw many comparisons to the other top seed, the Chicago Bulls, there is some similarity in how their team plays as a unit. There are nine players on the roster that have averaged at least 19 minutes a game, and none play more than Tony Parker at 32.4mpg (The bulls have eight players that average over 20 minutes a game and Keith Bogans averages 17.8mpg). This has led to five players averaging between 11 and 17.5ppg, and the team pulling down 41.9rpg while no one player grabs more than 9 rebounds on average. There is a ton of balance on the Spurs, but that also means there is no real superstar. Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli, Tim Duncan, all three are clearly the class of the team, and it will be interesting to see how that synergy plays out as the playoffs progress when they might be missing that alpha dog presence in key situations.

That being said, the makeup of their team shouldn't affect them too much against the Memphis Grizzlies. They are powered behind the post presence of Zach Randolph and the ball distribution of Mike Conley. They can be a stingy team on defense with the help of Marc Gasol, Tony Allen, Shane Battier, Leon Powe, and OJ Mayo. But, they're missing their number two scorer and primary perimeter threat, Rudy Gay. Gay was averaging 19.8ppg, 6.2rpg, 1.7spg while shooting 47.1% from the field and 39.6% from beyond the arc. That is key production, and the Grizzlies can't just put OJ Mayo into that spot and pretend it's business as usual. If Gay was healthy, this would be a very dangerous Grizzlies team; but as they stand now, they just don't have the personnel to match up with the Spurs.

Spurs in 5

(2) Los Angeles vs. (7) New Orleans

Last year the Boston Celtics went 3-7 in their last 10 games of the regular season and 10-11 in their last 21 games. There was talk of the Celtics struggling, or perhaps coasting through the regular season, just waiting to get to the playoffs, as can happen to veteran teams at times. Once again this season, the Celtics finished the season with a mediocre record, leading to comparisons to last year's team. Last year they “turned it on” in the playoffs and advanced to the NBA Finals. However, I feel that comparisons to last year's team is misplaced, and actually if any team reminds me of the 2009-10 Celtics it's this year's Los Angeles Lakers (You thought I forgot which matchup I was supposed to be talking about here, didn't you?). After winning 17 of 18 games, the Lakers then dropped five in a row before winning their last two to clinch the #2 seed. There seems to be a certain complacency, with even head coach Phil Jackson admitting the team isn't trying very hard. And yet, this is a team rife with talent. The team's Big Four, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, and Andrew Bynum, average 69.8ppg. Gasol and Bynum combine to pull down 19.6rpg, with Odom adding an additional 8.7rpg. All three of them shoot at least 53% from the field, with Bryant shooting a respectable 45.1%.

Despite their struggles, this is a team built for the playoffs. Bryant has only averaged 33.9mpg this year, but there is little doubt that his minutes will increase in the postseason. A front line of Gasol, Bynum and Odom with a little Ron Artest thrown in for defensive purposes along with Bryant in the back court is devastating. Ultimately, the Lakers fate in the playoffs will probably rest with the health and effectiveness of Andrew Bynum. When he's playing as well as he's capable of playing, the Lakers are all but unstoppable. But durability is an issue with him, and after only playing in 54 games this season, and suffering a bruised knee in the regular season finale, there are concerns that he may not be able to stay healthy, in which case the Lakers do become vulnerable.

Unfortunately for the Hornets, Bynum is expected to be fine for the first round, which is going to present serious issues, particularly in the frontcourt. The Hornets are not a great rebounding team, ranking 24th in the league in rebounds at 40.1 per game, compared to the Lakers who are 3rd with 44.0 per game. Emeka Okafor and David West are both undersized and are not a good matchup for Gasol and Bynum, and West will struggle to cover Odom when he is playing power forward. Trevor Ariza will be an effective defender on Bryant, but that large lineup will create solid opportunities for the Lakers at every frontcourt position. The Hornets only true advantage in this series is Chris Paul, who should be able to have his way with the ancient Derek Fisher covering him. However, Paul seems to be a step slower this season with knee problems, and just doesn't have the team around him to be able to take a game over, let alone four. The Lakers could drop a game as they might not yet be totally motivated in this first round, but other than that they shouldn't really be threatened by New Orleans at all.

Lakers in 5

(3) Dallas vs. (6) Portland

Quick, name the Mavericks fourth-leading scorer (excluding Caron Butler). How about their fifth? If you said Tyson Chandler and Jose Barea, congrats, you must watch a lot of Mavs basketball. In other words, the Dallas Mavericks have Dirk Nowitzki, and not a whole lot else. He leads the team in points per game (23.0) and is second in rebounds per game (7.0). Dallas managed to win 57 games despite Jason Terry being the number two scorer for the team and Caron Butler, their number three scorer, missing two thirds of the season due to injury. They don't rebound particularly well, (14th in the league, 41.4rpg), have a one dimensional point guard (In 33.2mpg Jason Kidd averages 7.9 points on 36.1% shooting, but does provide 8.2apg), and a center who is an above average rebounder (9.4 per game) but can't create his own shot.

But, here they are. The #3 seed, it's tough to know what to make of the Mavericks. They lost 5 of 8 games, only to win 5 in a row, followed by a 4 game losing streak, then a 4 game winning streak to finish the season. Who knows which Mavericks team we'll see up against Portland.

The Trailblazers are almost the opposite of the Mavericks, with a number of quality players, and depth all around, compared to Dallas who has to rely on Nowitzki for much of its success. Led by LaMarcus Aldridge (21.8ppg, 8.8rpg), Portland also gets production from Wesley Matthews (15.9ppg), Gerald Wallace (15.8ppg, 7.6rpg), Andre Miller (12.7ppg, 7.0apg), and also get double digit points from Nicolas Batum and Brandon Roy, along with 10.3rpg from the ageless wonder Marcus Camby. That's a solid seven man rotation, most notably Gerald Wallace, the mid-season acquisition who provides excellent production at the 2/3 spot and takes a lot of pressure off of Brandon Roy, whose knee problems could have derailed the Blazers' season were it not for the trade for Wallace. Now, Roy can limit his minutes to around 20 per game and the Blazers don't really suffer because of it.

The general consensus seems to be to anoint the Blazers as the spoilers and give them the upset win over the Mavericks right off the bat. The two teams split the season series, with the Mavs winning the first two, and the Blazers winning the last two. However, a couple of stats point to the idea of an upset being more difficult than expected. First, there's Dallas' home court advantage. The Mavs were good, not great at home at 29-12, however Portland was a paltry 18-23 on the road. Portland is going to have to win on the road at least once to win this series. Second, despite Dallas' mediocre rebounding numbers, Portland is decidedly worse, tied with Atlanta for 27th in the league with 39.3 per game. So despite Marcus Camby averaging over 10 rebounds per game in 26 minutes of duty, this is a weak area for them and could be a place for Dallas to get an advantage. Portland will probably end up taking this series, as they just have more talent and a better team than Dallas, but it will by no means be an easy victory, especially if they happen to slip up and lose a game at home.

Portland in 7

(4) Oklahoma City vs. (5) Denver

So, the Denver Nuggets lose their top two leading scorers, top assist guy, and leading rebounder, and then proceed to go on a tear the rest of the season and finish up as the #5 seed in the Western Conference. Instead of struggling when Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups were traded to the New York Knicks, they took the pieces they already had, added in Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and Raymond Felton, and didn't skip a beat with all three averaging double figures over the last 20 games of the season. The Nuggets truly are an ensemble cast, with no standout star, but a number of role players. Aside from Gallinari, Chandler, and Felton, there's Nene, Arron Afflalo, JR Smith, Ty Lawson, Al Harrington, Kenyon Martin, and of course, Chris Andersen. Andersen's averaging 16.3mpg, everyone else is playing at least 22.8mpg. It's a diverse cast that can give you a lot of different looks on the court, and George Karl seems to have rallied the team around the absence of Carmelo and his drama to allow them to play at this high level.

It's certainly a great story, but in the NBA it's tough for a Cinderella story to make it too far into the playoffs. Especially when Cinderella's first round opponent is Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. The Thunder are a team reborn with the addition of Kendrick Perkins to start at center and play the role of enforcer in the paint he once occupied in Boston. Perkins and Serge Ibaka make for a dangerous duo in the frontcourt, in addition to Durant's length and ability to score. Thabo Seflosha provides solid defense, and Russell Westbrook might be the most underrated point guard in the league. Westbrook's game can best be compared to that of Derrick Rose's, but Rose is the better all-around player, so Westbrook's ability tends to fly under the radar. But make no mistake, Westbrook's ability to score as well as distribute the ball in addition to Durant's scoring talents are a large part of why the Thunder averaged 104.8ppg. Now, with Seflosha, Ibaka and now Perkins stepping up defensively on the other end, this has become a very dangerous team. Denver is outmatched here and the series won't be as close as the seeding numbers would otherwise indicate.

Thunder in 5

With the predictions above, we would be looking at second round matchups of San Antonio vs. Oklahoma City, and Los Angeles vs. Portland. The Spurs/Thunder matchup is a tough one to call. The Thunder are probably the more talented team, but the Spurs are more experienced and better coached, plus they have home court advantage. The Thunder can win the series, but it would probably take six or seven games to do it. With the Lakers/Blazers, Portland is the more athletic team by far, but there is some definite concern that the Lakers will crush Portland on the boards and overpower them with their superior frontcourt. Assuming the Lakers get it into gear for the playoffs, they should dispatch the Blazers. A Lakers/Thunder conference finals matchup would be a fantastic series. Gasol vs. Perkins, Ibaka vs. Bynum, Durant vs. Artest, Bryant vs. Seflosha, Westbrook vs. Fisher. That being said, a full strength duo of Bynum and Gasol will be the difference and will send the Lakers to the NBA Finals once again.

So, to recap:

Spurs over Grizzlies in 5
Lakers over Hornets in 5
Blazers over Mavs in 7
Thunder over Nuggets in 5

Thunder over Spurs in 7
Lakers over Blazers in 6

Lakers over Thunder in 6

Thanks for reading, and make sure to check out my Eastern Conference preview too!

A couple things that I left off before I get into the flash sideways...

-I got excited of the prospect of Richard Alpert heading off into the civilized world and adjusting to life there a la Crocodile Dundee. Now, obviously Richard is somewhat acclimated with modern day society as evidenced by his recruitment of Juliet when he brought her to the island, but I still find the idea of a guy from the 1860s having to start a new life in the city of Los Angeles quite sitcom-worthy. We've got that, and we've got Sawyer and Miles in their buddy cop show, let's get on it ABC.

-Not to criticize the writers, but holy crap did they drop the ball. In a show that is filled with Star Wars references, when Kate told Jack she loved him, how can you not have Jack respond with "I know." I mean, c'mon, it's not like this show takes itself too seriously to pull that off, they just had Hurley bust out a "I've got a bad feeling about this" earlier in the episode! It would have been beyond greatness. For shame, LOST writers, for shame.

The Flash Sideways. Okay, well, turns out there's nothing sideways about it, but we've been calling it that all season, no need to stop now. I find my brain to be a jumbled mess of thoughts when it comes to the flash sideways that we've been witness to all season. First off, I loved it. All season, I really enjoyed everything they showed us (Well, maybe not Kate's episode. Sorry Kate, old habits). You had this world in which all of the characters we've watched since the beginning of the show were in a completely different place. Well, the same place, but with a completely different destination, and with different lives to lead. And yet, despite all those differences, my favorite parts about the flash sideways were the moments that were reminiscent of the rest of the show. Everything that we remembered, and loved about the show, we were able to relive it, only in a different way. We saw classic scenes between Jack and Locke, Nadia and Sayid, Sawyer and Miles, Desmond and Jack, Hurley and Libby, Charlie and Desmond, Locke and Ben, Jin and Sun, Kate and Sawyer, and on and on it goes. All of these relationships that we had been able to see before, some that we hadn't seen in years, rekindled right in front of us. Ignoring what it meant to the LOST story, it was just plain fun to watch. Much like the on island storyline, with Hurley and Jack finding the caves, or seeing Shannon's inhaler, or Sawyer reflecting by the cages, it was a slice of nostalgia pie, given to the fans to consume. An homage to the thing that made LOST great, the characters, and their relationships with each other.

And yet, it was even more than that. What we got on LOST was a group of troubled, flawed, characters. What we saw in the flash sideways was an insight into what they could be like if they were able to overcome their inner demons (Except for Kate. Again, sorry). Jack, still very much a doctor's son, but this time with the opportunity to change things, to move on past how his father treated him, and build a relationship that he could never have had with his father with the son he never had. Sawyer, perhaps still haunted by the death of his parents as a child, but instead of being consumed by the man that he hated and ultimately becoming him, he becomes a cop, someone who tries to do what's right in the world. Desmond, a man that was always very much afraid, and unable to commit to anything, and was willing to do whatever he could to win the approval of Charles Widmore, the father of the woman that he loves. Now, a man who is in control and has his life together, and very much has the approval of Widmore. Locke, a man who couldn't escape the misfortune of being Anthony Cooper's son, with that misfortune ultimately manifesting itself in the form of a wheelchair, a daily reminder to Locke of what had been done to him. Instead, Locke is still in his wheelchair, but it's for a different reason, and he's still able to live his life, and be with the woman he loves, Helen. Hurley, once was a cursed man, now is the luckiest man in the world. Jin & Sun, before in a troubled marriage because of Sun's father, now in a much happier (and dangerous) secret relationship that does not require such a burden.

Early on in the season I talked about the idea of the flash sideways being an epilogue of sorts. With a show like LOST, how do you just say goodbye to your characters at the end without dragging it out? You want to see them one last time, just to see them. And not just the handful that manage to escape the show alive. I don't know if I compared it to this or not, but it made me think of the final Lord of the Rings movie, Return of the King. Yes, the ending of the movie was longer than the rest of the movie itself, but it was because we had experienced such a journey with all of these characters, it seemed only fitting that we see what happens to them. But how do you do that with LOST? You can't just have the last four episodes be an epilogue, it's beyond anti-climactic. But if you spread it out over the course of the season, giving bits and pieces here and there, so that people don't know it's an epilogue until the end, that could work. It's like introducing us to the concept of the flash forward, only instead of revealing it at the end of the episode, you keep the wool over our eyes all season.

Now, the major flaw with this idea was that if this flash sideways truly was an epilogue, then it would imply that the past 5 years were effectively rendered meaningless, since the plane landed, nothing we saw actually happened, and that's just not good for anybody. You can't give us an ending that negates the entire series and expect fans to be okay with that. And, as we saw, that's not what they did. In the end, they did give us what basically amounts to an epilogue, only it really had nothing to do with the rest of the show.

Knowing that now, and looking back at it all, they really went out of their way to mess with us. And it's not the first time they've done this, either. With the initial flash forward, they didn't screw with us too much aside from Jack drunkenly talking about his father despite the fact he was really dead. But I'm also reminded of an episode in Season 4, a Jin & Sun episode. Up to that point in the season, every episode had been flash forwards only, no flashbacks. So we get to see Sun's flashforwards, and she's pregnant, going into labor, and is a little delirious from everything that's going on and asks for her husband. Then, in a separate set of scenes, we see Jin running to the store to buy a stuffed animal as a gift, and he's in a rush to get to the hospital. The scenes are interwoven to make us believe Jin is taking the stuffed bear to the hospital to give to Ji Yeon, but instead it turns out Jin was in a flashback, and in the flashforward he was actually dead. I remember really disliking the episode, as I felt the swerve was cheap, and made me feel like they were pulling that on us for the sake of doing it. The introduction of the flashback into Season 4 wasn't done as a storytelling device, merely as something to enhance the con they were pulling on all of us.

But with this season, I feel different about it. Deception and concealment of the flash sideways world's true purpose was necessary, because its secret just isn't something they could have told us until the very end. I find myself looking back and thinking how crazy everything was that we were meant to look at in a completely different way from what it actually was. Take the Incident, for example. The ultimate red herring. At the end of Season 5, a bomb went off directly over the pocket of electromagnetic energy where the hatch was being built. Jack & Co. believed that the bomb going off would prevent the Incident, that it would lead to the hatch not being built, which meant Desmond wouldn't push the button, which meant their plane wouldn't crash, and everything would start over, with the plane landing in LAX. On the flip side, though, perhaps the bomb going off was the Incident, and by detonating the bomb, they were simply doing their part in the history of the island. And so we were left with that ambiguity at the end of Season 5, did the bomb going off work, or didn't it? How do we start off Season 6? With two storylines, one in which Oceanic Flight 815 lands at LAX in 2004, and one in which Jack & Co. wake up in 2007, wearing their Dharma jumpsuits, standing by the imploded hatch. So immediately we label the flash sideways as somehow being related to the Incident. The ambiguity continues! Did it work, or didn't it? But now that we can look back, we can see that clearly the Incident was the bomb going off. They prevented nothing, and instead everything played out just the way it was supposed to. Whatever happened, happened. The Incident had absolutely nothing to do with the flash sideways world. But of course we didn't know that at the time. And it didn't stop there. Damon & Carlton basically alluded to the idea of the flash sideways world being somehow related to the Incident in their interviews and podcasts. Or one of my favorite moments now looking back, Juliet's "final words" to Sawyer as told by Miles (the guy that can hear dead people's thoughts, appropriately), "it worked". A very vague and confusing comment at the time, since it clearly didn't seem to work given the fact Sawyer and everyone else was still on the island. But we all believed it to mean that in the flash sideways, it did work, and her comments before she died about getting coffee, etc., meant that we would see that happen in the flash sideways world. Instead, we learn that "it worked" was simply referring to Sawyer getting his Apollo candy bar out of the vending machine by unplugging it! Love it.

Okay, but let's bring it all back around. What is the flash sideways world? It's a place where (most) everyone we knew went to when they died. Everyone died at different times, but eventually they all did, and went to this place, to see one another one last time before they moved on to whatever awaited them in the afterlife. Could it be purgatory? I suppose, although I feel like it's a place that is similar to purgatory, but without the requirement of purification or punishment, or anything like that. I look at it more as how Christian put it, a place for everyone to find each other, to remember, one last time. As much as it was a place for awareness and reflection on what their lives were with each other, I think that's what it was for us as viewers, as well. I don't think about it too much in terms of the rest of the LOST story, because the flash sideways is really it's own entity. You could remove it from the show, and the story still plays out the same. The value of the flash sideways is not the story, but the characters. If you are watching LOST because you are invested in the characters, then the flash sideways world was made for you, so that you could enjoy and appreciate everything that they are one last time. I've seen discussions on whether this place is supposed to be for everyone, or if it's only Jack that is truly experiencing this, which is a fair point since there are hints that that is the case (Jack being the last to remember, his final conversation with his father), but I guess for me, that stuff isn't all that important. Watching everyone suddenly wake up, and remember their lives, and remember the people they spent their lives with, and even fitting in one last sappy LOST reunion inside the church, that's what was important to me. Ultimately, that's what I got out of the flash sideways. And that's why I loved it. It was really everything I could have asked for from an epilogue.

LOST. When it comes to television shows, for me LOST is in its own category. I don't claim to be a TV guru, despite the massive amounts of TV I may watch. There are many "great" shows that I have never seen, The Wire (I know, I'm working on it), MASH, Twin Peaks, Breaking Bad, etc. But based on what I have seen, nothing is better than LOST. It was compelling, complex television, with interesting characters, great relationships, lots of mysteries, plenty of suspense, just enough science fiction to whet my appetite, and a well thought out universe for the story to take place in. It's not a show without flaws, of course, but in the end, I think the positives far outweighed the negatives. I loved the experience, especially the sense of community and discussion that was created as a result of it all. The show has really changed how I look at TV, for better or worse. I think I'm going to have to lower the bar going forward, because I just think it will be pretty hard to top what LOST has meant to me.

Anyways, it's been a fun ride, I really enjoyed being able to share in the discussion of the show with everyone, and I'm glad you all liked what I had to say enough to read my blog every week. This will probably be my last LOST-related post, at least for the foreseeable future. Don't forget about Chronologically LOST, where you can see the whole show in chronological order. I expect to start releasing episodes in the next few days, which you can feel free to watch and enjoy at your convenience. That's all for me, thanks for reading.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=334
Entertainment - LOST: The End, Part 1]]>I couldn't think of a better way to describe my experience of watching the series finale of LOST. It's not like the end was a surprise to me, I've known about it for three and a half years. And I felt like I had a pretty good idea going into the finale what was going to happen. Jack and the Nemesis would have a confrontation. I had a feeling one if not both would die. I thought Hurley might end up taking over. And yet, at the same time, I really had no idea what would happen. What could happen. And then there's the flash-sideways world, a place I found interesting to the extent that I felt like there were a lot of great character moments, great parallels and call backs to scenes from the entire history of the show. I knew there was something more to it than just that, but I didn't know what it was, and really, how could I? So I found myself quite taken with the whole episode. It wasn't a perfect episode, but the things it did well, it did really, really well. And it completely sucked me in, so much so that two and a half hours felt much shorter than that. In the end, the combination of Jack walking to his death, Jack's final conversation with his father, and the last LOST reunion we'll ever see was just too overwhelming for me, and I had myself a little cry. I'm one of those people that doesn't really cry. My eyes might get a little glassy at times, but me being the male that I am, it's certainly a natural instinct for me to make sure it never goes further than that. Couldn't do it this time. It caught me off guard, it really did. It was all just so, beautiful, the way everything ended, I couldn't help but be swept up in it all.

I feel like there's a lot that I want to discuss, but I also feel like it's all still swirling around in my head, and I'm not sure I can make complete sense of it all quite yet. But writing's therapeutic for me, so let's see if putting it all onto paper helps.

The Real World. Our final confrontation. Jack vs. Locke. Good vs. Evil. All of that good stuff. The on island storyline was somewhat formulaic to finish things out, but I guess I was a little comforted by that, because it's the end of the show, don't we need a little normalcy to close things out? I ended up feeling like this was the weaker of the two realities in the finale, but there were some positives to take away as well.

-I really liked all the little moments that the writers still managed to put into the show, even though they were focused on finishing the story. Hurley had a lot of great moments, commenting on how sweet Kate & Jack's moment was together if they weren't all about to die, busting out the infamous Star Wars quote "I've got a bad feeling about this", and his final scene with Jack was as good as it gets. We also got to see Rose & Bernard one last time, which could be looked at as a pointless scene, but from a character standpoint, it was nice to see them again, although they're clearly justified in keeping themselves isolated from everyone else on the island.

-I thought Julius Goat made a very poignant prediction (for once) when he proclaimed that either all of the remaining candidates would die on the finale, or none of them would. It felt right to me at the time, but not just for the candidates. I went in thinking that this could go one of two ways, either pretty much everyone was going to die, and we were only going to be left with two or three characters still alive, or we got our deaths out of the way in "What They Died For", and whomever survived that episode was going to make it out alive. It turned out to be the latter, with only Jack and the Nemesis dying, and everyone else either finding their way off the island, or remaining there to live out their lives. As usual, I did a terrible job of following my own advice when I talked about how a LOST character generally isn't dead until you actually see them die. And then there I go talking about how Frank's probably dead even though we didn't actually see him die, because he's not relevant enough to get a true character death. Relevant enough? What was I talking about? Hello, he's part of the main cast! Hell, if Frogurt and Karl can get official death scenes, why wouldn't Frank? Idiot. At least I was right about Richard. Certainly if Richard was going to die he needed a better death than flying through the air at the hands of the smoke monster. And ultimately, neither one of them died. Neither did red-shirt Miles. It was certainly a surprise seeing them survive, but a welcome one. (For the record, I do believe that everyone on that Ajira plane survived and made it to, wherever Lapidus took them. While we don't know for sure, I think we have some evidence and can infer that this is the case. In the flash-sideways, Kate told Jack that she had missed him for a long time, implying she lived on for a while after Jack died. If she had died on the plane, their deaths would have only been minutes, or hours apart.)

-I've said it before, but Jack's transformation into something more Locke than Jack has been extremely gratifying as a viewer. He was a flawed, broken man when he arrived on the island, but he just wasn't broken enough to truly achieve the greatness that lay within him. It wasn't until he left the island, and lost everything that he had, that he was able to find the faith that had eluded him for so long, the faith that was passed on to him, in a way, when John Locke died. Instead of trying to live his life by fixing everything and everyone that he could, he placed his life in the destiny of the island, and that gave us the best Jack Shephard we could have hoped for. Gone was the stubborn Jack that only did things his way, and instead in his place was a calmer, more open Jack, willing to take lead if he has to, but also to defer and take a wait and see approach if that's what the situation calls for. The character transformation was really effective, and made people like me, who have been Jack haters since before it was cool, emotionally invested in his character once again. That way, when he died, I was sad. Not just because it represented the end of the show, but because Jack had become someone I had grown to care about. Jack's transformation also provided some peace for all of the Locke supporters out there who felt Locke died for nothing, that he wouldn't get any redemption. Jack picked up Locke's flag, and carried it proudly onto the battlefield against the Nemesis. "You're not John Locke, you disrespect his memory by wearing his face, but you are nothing like him". Tremendous line, and carries with it so much depth and history given Jack's relationship with Locke on the island.

-Now, as much as I enjoyed Jack's character in this episode, I wasn't overly impressed with what he did in this episode. I am okay with a certain amount of ambiguity. I don't need to know everything about the island; heck, I'm not even sure I want to know everything about the island. But I guess I did want to know more about the island than what was given to us. The entire process of lowering Desmond down into the light, the removal of the stone, the draining of the light, the red light emanating from the bottom of the island, just the whole thing, it was done without any kind of explanation, or even without any kind of reason. Neither Jack or the Nemesis really knew what they were doing, they just seemed to be winging it. I don't have a problem with that idea, per say, but it's not like we can find out down the road what it was they were actually doing. It kind of reminded me of Ben moving the island. I don't think Ben knew exactly what he was doing, but he had a general idea, and we of course had absolutely no clue what he was doing, but over time we came to have an understanding of what was going on. I think ultimately I found myself not quite as invested in those scenes involving the light because I honestly didn't know what I was looking at. It was something mysterious, something important, but we just didn't know enough to really truly care one way or another how things played out.

-Oh Kate, you had me at "I saved you a bullet". As anyone who reads my blog knows, I have hatred for Kate like no one else on this show. She has always been one of the most selfish characters, constantly getting in the way of things, and even when she has good intentions they tend to be based on some underlying selfish motivation. If she didn't look so good in her underwear she would have been killed off in Season 2. And yet, in one episode, she completely turns it around, which I still find completely baffling. Her shooting the Nemesis was outstanding, and her line was totally bad ass. Even her moment with Jack before he left was touching and heartfelt. Instead of using Jack or Sawyer to best suit her needs, she just laid it out there, proclaimed her love for Jack, then let him leave. Bravo Kate, I salute you. She also talked Claire into getting on the plane, which is all well and good, but they sort of rushed that scene a bit, and we all knew Claire was getting on the plane, so I'm not going to give her a ton of credit for that one.

-Nothing I could say could possibly improve upon what's already there, so here you go.

-I'm really glad we got one more awesome Michael Emerson moment before the show ended. When Jack picked Hurley to become the new protector of the island, Ben was in the background, but was purposely kept on camera, so that you could see his sheer disappointment in him not being chosen. I really felt bad for the guy. To follow that up with Ben's pure elation at the idea of Hurley asking him, Benjamin Linus, for help in protecting the island, really great stuff, and was a fantastic conclusion to a guy who sacrificed pretty much everything he had for the good of the island, but was never able to be the chosen one, until now.

I do have a couple of various theories that I heard that I don't necessarily believe, but I thought they had some promise and were interesting ways of looking at the show, if nothing else.

First comes from Jimmy Kimmel, that he shared with Matthew Fox in his LOST show on Sunday night (I encourage you to check it out on Hulu if you haven't seen it yet). Jimmy didn't have a real in-depth theory about any specific aspect of the show, but rather a broad idea of what the show was, and the perspective it was shown to us in. I really liked how explained it, and it just sort of felt right the way he said it. Anyways, I've transcribed the theory below:

"In a lot of religions, Christianity being one of them, the idea is that life is a test, that you go through your life, and if you're good you go on to Heaven, or Nirvana, or whatever, and if you're bad you don't, you go to Hell or you don't go anywhere. My theory is that the whole show from beginning to end, we were watching Jack's test, his test, and his life on the island was I think his real life. And obviously Jack passed the test. And maybe the characters, maybe each of the characters has their own story and their own test, but this show, I think was Jack's test."

The other theory I heard on a podcast and read a couple of places, but the general idea is this. At the end of the show, Ben and Hurley are talking about Jack, Desmond, and the responsibility of protecting the island. Ben tells Hurley that he should do his job by doing what he does best, by taking care of people. Hurley wonders how they can help Desmond get home since people can't leave the island. Ben tells Hurley that was a Jacob thing, and says that maybe there is a better way. Now, in the flash-sideways, and I'll probably talk more about this later, but Christian tells Jack that the flash-sideways, it's a place they made to find each other, because the most important part of their lives was the time spent with those people. What if Hurley, as the protector of the island, was able to use his abilities to create that place? He wanted to get Desmond to Penny, and off the island, and so he made that place for them to find each other again.

I don't know that I subscribe to the idea, it seems a little far-fetched, plus I'm of the opinion that Ben suggesting there's a better way, what he really meant was looking to improve upon the way Jacob did things, "progress" if you will. Plus I think the creating of the flash-sideways goes beyond what any of us know about the universe, I don't know that Hurley could create something like that just because he's in charge of the island. Still, it's an intriguing idea to think about.

Alright, I wasn't sure if I was going to get this all into one post or not, but since I'm just now finishing talking about the real world, and haven't even touched the flash sideways world yet, I think we'll go ahead and make this Part 1, and you can look for Part 2 to go up tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=333
Entertainment - LOST 6.16 Thoughts]]>The realization that the show is actually coming to an end has been hitting me over the past week or so. With Damon and Carlton constantly on Twitter talking about how the show is wrapped, and then having their last ever Official LOST Podcast, those were really the first things that made me come to terms with it all. Then on Sunday I became aware that in one week it would all be over. Now, with the penultimate episode out of the way, there's nothing left but the finale. Two and a half hours, then nothing more. I couldn't help but get goosebumps during one of the commercial breaks when ABC played a promo for the finale event on Sunday. It's a weird feeling, trying to deal with the end of LOST, because on one hand I've been eagerly anticipating this season, and some closure to the story for a long time, but on the other hand, once it's over, that's it. There will be no more stories to learn, no more plot twists to debate. The entire story will be out there, and there will be no more additions to it. For me, I always have a hard time with the end of a TV show I like, because I really like to immerse myself in that show's universe, and I hate to think that we'll never learn any more about that universe ever again. A show ending places a stopping point on what we can know. Sure, the episodes are always there to be rewatched, and that's certainly a nice thing to be able to do, but it kind of sucks knowing that you can't get anything new the second time around.

At least LOST is going out with a bang. We've got the pilot being aired on Saturday, then a two-hour clip show beginning at (I believe) 6:00 CST, then the two and a half hour series finale, and then I think Jimmy Kimmel's got his LOST show coming on at around 11. So all in all you're looking at seven and a half hours of LOST programming this weekend, which should certainly be enough to immerse yourself with. And then after all of it's over, there is always my project over at Chronologically LOST, which is coming along nicely and I expect to post an update over there in the next few days.

I don't expect this to be a long post today, because the show is really at that point where it is what it is. As was expected, this week's episode was a catalyst for setting everything up for the finale. There was a lot going on, but not a lot of room left for speculation and theories. We seem to have a pretty good idea of where things are headed, and what to look forward to on Sunday. There are a few things I want to touch on, but other than that I thought I would just post some hopes and expectations I have for the finale, and take a look back at some of the major questions I had or talked about in my Season 6 Preview post way back earlier this year.

Looking back at that preview post, my big three questions were: What's the deal with John Locke? Is Jacob dead? And what's the deal with the Nemesis? Well, I guess we have a fairly complete answer regarding Locke. He's dead and buried, and his persona is being mimicked by the Nemesis. We may get some kind of redemption from Locke in the Sideways World, but real world John Locke? I think his story is finished. As far as Jacob goes, I wasn't really sure about the idea of him dying the same episode that we first finally see him, but it certainly makes a lot more sense now with all we've seen of him, and I'm okay with it. We know that he's dead, we know why he's dead, and we know what his purpose is. Finally, we have the Nemesis. Who is he? What's his relation to Jacob? What influence has he had on the show? We've had lots of information on this topic. We know that at one time he, or at least part of him, was Jacob's twin brother, and that now he is the smoke monster, trying to escape from the island, which according to numerous people would be very, very bad. His influence goes deep on the island, from a total manipulation of John Locke and Benjamin Linus, to...who knows how far. Perhaps he was responsible for the purge of the Dharma Initiative. Perhaps he was responsible for the death of the Army troops that came to the island in the 1950s. We'll never know definitively which cookie jars he had his hands in, but it is fun to look back at the island's history and think about when he might have influenced something that we've seen.

I asked what the smoke monster was, exactly, and I think we've had about as complete of an answer as we're going to get. Personally, I would still like to know why there was an ancient Egyptian picture of the god Anubis with what appears to be the Smoke Monster in the lower levels of the wall outside the Temple, and bigger picture would like a little insight into the Egyptian mythology that we see all over the island, but at this point I don't have high hopes of that being explained. As it is, we did get a good answer of who the smoke monster is, and why it was 'released' onto the island. We probably won't know everything about it or its origins, but the picture's much clearer than it was at the beginning of the season.

The numbers. Ah, the numbers. I wasn't ever expecting any kind of 'ultimate explanation' as to what the numbers are, and how they relate to everything that we've seen so far. It might have been nice to know why exactly they were recorded onto the radio tower on the island at some point in time, but it's not really that big of a deal. We saw the numbers in the cave, and learned that they were assigned to the six remaining Candidates to replace Jacob. That's about as big of a correlation as we're going to get, and I at least appreciate the fact that they tried to tie them to something island related. Good enough for me.

Adam & Eve? Check and check. I am a little disappointed they didn't make it Nikki & Paulo.

Some other things I wasn't expecting answers to: Walt. Maybe we'll get a quick cameo of him in the Sideways World (although that's doubtful since he's still all of 10 in 2004 and in real life he's pushing 35, so it might look awkward), but as I said before, he's done. Unfortunate that they never fully fleshed out his story. The survivors we saw the Others kidnap? Cindy & the kids? We surprisingly got an answer to this one. While their present whereabouts are currently unknown, we at least saw them again, knew that they were alive, so kudos on that one. And then there's the damn food drops. All I wanted was for Charles Widmore to reveal to Desmond that he was the reason Desmond ended up on the island. He set him up from the get go in his race around the world so that he would end up there, so that he would push the button. And that's why the food drops continued for the hatch; because he knew Desmond was in there and wanted to keep up the charade of having to push the button. This is what I wanted to happen, what should have happened. But it certainly doesn't look like I'm going to get that now. However, maybe if I keep talking about it happening enough, people will start to think that it really did take place. In that case, I'm sure glad we finally found out that Charles Widmore was behind all those food drops. What a surprise!

A few more. Claire? Obviously we've see her again, she doesn't appear to be dead, just hanging out with the Nemesis. But that's not to say she won't end up dead by the end of the show. Desmond & Penny's fate? Not fully decided yet, but I'm guessing whatever it is it's probably not good. Desmond was brought to the island to make a sacrifice, the Nemesis seems to want to use him as such, he may get his happy ending with Penny, but I wouldn't put money on it. Finally, we have the future time flash with Sawyer, Juliet & co. We saw them all in an outrigger, being shot at by a mysterious group of people in another outrigger, and ultimately Juliet shooting one of them right before they flashed to another time period. It's something I've been looking forward to all season, especially since I've been putting together LOST's master timeline. Sadly, we're not getting an answer on this. Long story short, Damon & Carlton said in an interview that at the time, they knew exactly who was in the boat, and who was shot, and how that was to play out. Unfortunately, when this season rolled around, they were unable to recreate the scene as they wanted it to happen without it being too contrived, so they ended up having to scrap the scene from playing out from the other boat's perspective. Brutal. Instead it will go into that vault of LOST mysteries that will never be answered. Also, if anyone has any bright ideas as to where I can put that time flash into the timeline, I'm still taking suggestions. Shoot me an e-mail.

So that's me looking back. Looking forward, there are only a few things I would really like to see resolved in the last two and a half hours.

-Character Resolution. I don't need some Lord of the Rings-type epilogue where we see how all of our characters ended up after the show's climax. All I want is for us to have some knowledge as to what their fates will be, so when the show ends I'm not stuck sitting there trying to figure out what's going to happen to everyone still on the island. I feel pretty confident in this happening, as Damon & Carlton have stated repeatedly in interviews over the past few months that one of their key goals is to give viewers a satisfying ending to the characters' stories.

-Sideways World Correlation. I don't expect we'll ever get the full details on the Sideways World, what it's supposed to be, exactly, how it works, etc. Which is fine. We can leave that world as an ambiguous place. The one thing I do want to be able to take away from it is its relationship with our present day world. We have been shown this world all season. Why? What does it have to do with anything? And I don't want to hear about how it's supposed to let us look at a world where the Incident worked the way Jack planned for it to work. Showing me some made up world based on a decision that didn't happen, that feels like a waste of time. But giving me some kind of correlation to what we're seeing now, giving it a purpose to justify why they've spent several hours of the final season on this other universe, that's what I want. I'm hoping we get something along those lines.

Hmm, actually I can't really think of anything else. I guess I must feel like things are mostly resolved. Fair enough. Let's touch on some quick hits from this week's show:

-Whether you've loved or hated this season's episodes, you can't deny the frequent and almost always effective throwbacks to past seasons. At the beginning of the episode, when there was wreckage washing up on the beach, I immediately recognized the music from Season 1, and maybe it was even from the Pilot. They've really been able to ride the nostalgia train throughout the season, especially in the flash sideways where they're able to rediscover certain relationships, and it's been some of my favorite stuff of the season.

-There was something interesting brought up on a podcast I listen to regarding Jacob. I went on a number of episodes ago about how Jacob may be the perceived "good" guy between he and the Nemesis, but he's not all good. Then I talked about how he brought people to the island against their will, etc. Well, so this week we were down to our final four candidates, Jack, Sawyer, Hurley and Kate. Jacob wanted to offer what he never had, and told them that they could choose who was to take over for him. An interesting aspect to all of this that I hadn't thought about was the fact that, while they were all initially brought to the island by Jacob, they either came back to the island, or chose to remain on the island by their own choice. Jack went back to the island because he was a broken man off of it. Kate went back to find Claire. Hurley went back because he felt like he was supposed to. Sawyer never left the island, but was supposed to, in 1974, with Juliet, and chose to stay. So you really can't fault Jacob for forcing them to become his replacement, because one way or another those four made the choice to be on that island, and ultimately they had the choice of deciding who would become the next Jacob.

-Clearly, even in the second-to-last episode, I can't stop looking for plot twists. From the time Jack volunteered to be Jacob's replacement to when Jack drank the water, I kept thinking that this was all playing out uneventfully, and that made me suspicious. I kept waiting for Jack to all of a sudden get shot in the chest by someone, or to somehow die right before he took over. Or for there to be a debate about who was going to take over, instead of Jack volunteering and everyone else just staying back and letting him (Although I did enjoy Sawyer's line about Jack's 'God complex'). I'll probably still be a little wary about all of this until the show is actually over, because I'm a little surprised that things played out that easily.

-I really liked the scene with Jacob and the remaining Candidates. He's sort of in his last moments on the island, so it's effectively his time to say what needs to be said. I liked his explanation of why they were Candidates, especially because it will forever leave the idea of whether it was Sun or Jin that was a Candidate ambiguous and up for debate, and I also really liked his explanation for why Kate was crossed off. I don't remember if I brought this up before after "The Candidate" or not, I don't think I did, but I read an astute observation about how the remaining four Candidates were also the same four people that Ben had Michael take from camp at the end of Season 2 and deliver to the Others. It's probably just a coincidence, but I still thought it was kind of neat.

-There's some debate going around if Richard is dead or not, and I can't help but be skeptical at the idea. Two big things that lead me to believe otherwise. First, Jacob made it so that he can't die. I don't know if that all of a sudden changed because Jacob's dead, but I don't believe it has, so I'm not sure why we're supposed to all of a sudden think that he can die. And second, I don't think the Nemesis can kill Richard. If he could, don't you think he would have already? General rule of thumb on LOST is that, if you didn't see someone die, chances are they're probably not dead. Now, this may not apply to people like Frank, or those that may have perished in the Great Flaming Arrow Attack of 1954, but for significant characters like Richard, we need to see some kind of lack of breathing, his head falling limply to the side, or preferably a death certificate. Otherwise, he's not dead.

-Okay, so here is the great Charles Widmore, former leader of the Others, rich and successful entrepreneur, very powerful man. And what is his last defense against the Nemesis? Go hide in the little room behind Ben's bookshelf and hope he doesn't find you? That's it? That's the best you could come up with? Where's Horace's house with the cool hidden entrance to the caves that we saw back in the 70s? Obviously you knew that those existed. But no, instead you go hide in the closet of the one guy on the island most likely to sell you out and/or get you killed. Way to go.

-You better find a better hiding place than Charles did, Miles, because with Tina Fey out of the picture, I think you're all that's left of the fringe characters unless we see Cindy and the kids pop up in the jungle somewhere. At least he had the right idea by taking off, if he had stuck around I have a feeling he might be laying there next to Tina Fey.

-So the Nemesis wants to destroy the island, and he needs Desmond to do it. Hmm. I can only assume this has something to do with the Light on the island, but I'm sure the Nemesis knows more about the details on that than he's telling us. But, since we know about the electromagnetic properties of the island, and we know that this energy is most likely related somehow to the Light given the well the Nemesis dug right by the Light, and we know that Desmond is capable of encountering large amounts of electromagnetic energy, I think it's safe to infer that the Nemesis' plans involve perhaps pushing Desmond into the Light, or having him do something to it that will result in the Light going out. He couldn't kill the remaining Candidates, and now Jack is the new Jacob, so since that line of thought is out, I guess it's time to take down the whole island.

-Kate was looking pretty pale there for a while, got my hopes up. Sadly Jack is actually a good doctor, so he didn't seem too concerned with the wound. Damn. On the bright side, I think we have more deaths yet to go, so there's still hope!

-Moving over to the Flash Sideways world, we still don't know what, exactly is going to happen, but it certainly appears that everything's going down at this concert at the museum. Miles, Charlotte, and Faraday will be there (perhaps we might get a Lapidus sighting as well to round out the group?), Sawyer declined an invite, but might make end up there anyways, Desmond and Kate are headed there, and of course Eloise Hawking and Charles Widmore will be there, along with Penny. We don't know yet where Sayid and Hurley are headed, but it wouldn't surprise me to see them end up there as well, possibly with Libby. That leaves us with Jack & Locke as the two primary characters who currently have no motivation to end up at the concert, although Desmond has clearly been working on both Jack and Locke, so he's got something in mind for the both of them. I gotta say, I still have absolutely no clue where they're going with this, but whatever it is, it definitely has a sense of urgency to it (probably because there's only one episode left).

-Loved the Ana Lucia cameo, and Hurley's non-chalant "Oh I didn't know Ana Lucia would be here" reaction. Really well done stuff. I wonder if Ben will come into play with any of this, or if his job was just to get Locke to start to believe.

-Speaking of Ben, poor guy can't even avoid getting his ass kicked in the Sideways world.

Alright, that's all I've got. I should have known when I stated this would probably be a short post that it would end up running about 3,500 words instead. Oops.

I would like to thank everyone for reading all of my inane ramblings over the past few years, and for all the discussion many of you have partaken in with me. Possibly the best thing about this show is the weekly conversations it leads to with fellow LOST viewers, and I know that this blog has at least helped facilitate some of those conversations on my end. I hope everyone enjoys the series finale, it will certainly be a bittersweet moment, as I don't know that we'll ever see another show quite like LOST again. I don't know what my plans are regarding a post after the finale. Generally I do a lot of speculation on where the show is heading, and since the show is over that won't quite work, now will it? Still, I think I should try and put something together, so we'll see what materializes. I don't know that it will be up the morning after like my posts usually are, since I may need some time to let my thoughts marinate. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what transpires. And as I mentioned earlier, don't forget about Chronologically LOST. I'm excited to share it with everyone, and I hope you all are able to enjoy the experience. Until next time, thanks for reading.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=332
Entertainment - LOST 6.15 Follow Up]]>Egyptian Mythology. I live at Lostpedia, frequenting the site many times a week. I ran across something I found a little interesting when reading about the wheel, which I think has since been edited out. Basically, someone had claimed that the hieroglyphics found in the cave where the wheel was were a major continuity error by the writers, almost implying that they had just been put there by accident, and decided later that they would drop the whole Egyptian theme from the show. An absurd notion for sure, but it did get me thinking a bit about the idea as a whole. The idea of their being some sort of Egyptian history to this island has been around since Season 2, when we saw in the hatch that after the timer reaches zero, the numbers are replaced with hieroglyphics. We have also seen the statue of Taweret, where Jacob lived, which is the Egyptian goddess of pregnancy/childbirth. There are also hieroglyphics found in the chamber where the wheel is, as well as in the Temple, which refer to resurrection of some kind. Also in the back of the Temple, where Ben went to face judgment from the Smoke Monster, we saw an engraving of the Egyptian God Anubis with what appeared to be the Smoke Monster.

Now, LOST has always given us references of other cultures, or other religions throughout the show. The term Dharma references Hinduism and Buddhism. We've seen a number of references to Christianity, from Eko's history as a 'priest', to imagery of Locke as a Christ-like figure, Charlie's life as a Catholic, the idea of the island being Hell. We've even seen hints of Roman culture, from the Latin spoken on the island, to the dagger that the Nemesis carries with him, which is a pugio, a dagger worn by Roman legionaries.

But overall, Egyptian mythology seems to be the most prevalent on the island, and I find myself wondering where it came from. Perhaps we'll never get a straightforward answer on the subject, it almost seems more interesting to be able to speculate on whether or not Egyptians were the earliest inhabitants of the island, but I do feel like the topic carries a certain amount of weight when discussing the origins of the Smoke Monster. As I mentioned this morning, we're not entirely sure what happened when Jacob threw his brother into the pool of Light. He was sucked in, and then out comes the Smoke Monster, dropping his brother's body by the river. Some people think that we saw the creation of the Smoke Monster, but I'm less inclined to agree. I think the depiction of Anubis with the Smoke Monster in the lower level of the Temple would indicate that the Smoke Monster is much older than anyone we've seen on the island. Or maybe, the idea of a Smoke Monster is much older than anything we've seen on the island. Maybe being the Smoke Monster isn't a singular phenomenon, but rather a transformation, or an effect on someone when something happens to them. Could being pulled into the Light cause this? Maybe. But if that's the case, then maybe the Nemesis isn't the only person that has ever been able to turn into black smoke.

I mentioned before how Jacob's mother was apparently responsible for killing all of the villagers, carrying Jacob's brother out of the well, and filling it all in, and she did all of this in a relatively short amount of time. Clearly there is something special about her to be able to pull this off. The destruction in the village really reminded me a lot of the destruction in the Temple. And the more I think about it, the more I can't help but think that was done on purpose. My buddy Goat alluded to this in his post (Seriously, read his post this week, it's outstanding), but what if Jacob's mother had been in the Light? How else would she know what would happen to someone that went in there? And what if it allowed her to behave as the Smoke Monster does? Wouldn't that make her destruction of the village and the well a little more understandable?

Their real mother. One thing that really makes me think is the appearance of the Nemesis' real mother. Dead people appearing on the island is nothing new. We've seen Isabella, Michael, Yemi, Christian, Locke, Jacob, etc. What they mean, and what their purpose is, isn't always the same. So what does Claudia's appearance to the Nemesis mean? Because let's face it, when she showed up she really threw a wrench into everything. She told him that only he could see her because she was dead, she told him that the other people on the island are where he came from, she told him that there is more in the world away from the island, she told him that she was his real mother. Basically she went out of her way to disprove everything that his "mother" had taught him growing up. But why? Something that just occurred to me, going with Goat's Garden of Eden theory. I made a note of how innocent, ignorant, and pure Jacob and his brother were growing up. Their mother was very careful in controlling any and all knowledge that they obtained, and wanted them closed off from the rest of the world, to the point that they didn't even know that a world outside of the three of them existed. It worked for a while, until they saw the Others (see what I did there) killing their boar. Shortly thereafter, the Nemesis saw his real mother. Claudia deprived him of his innocence in a way, by opening his eyes to the truth of the island and the world around him. Reminds me a little of the serpent in the Garden in his dealings with Eve.

There's more to this tangled web that isn't quite clear to me yet aside from Claudia's intentions (and what exactly she is). I mentioned their mother anticipating her death, and didn't fight it when she knew that the Nemesis would kill her. But let's take that a step back. She passed the power and responsibility of guarding the light on to Jacob because she knew her time was coming to an end. And let's take a step back from that. She attacked the Nemesis in the well, filled the well, killed the villagers, knowing it would prevent him from leaving the island. She did this, essentially sacrificing herself so that the Nemesis couldn't leave the island. So ultimately I guess it goes back to his mother's desire to keep him on the island at all costs, even if it meant her losing her life. But she didn't kill the Nemesis. And she waited until absolutely necessary to kill the villagers. If the villagers were a threat to her plan to keep Jacob and his brother innocent, why not wipe them out years ago? Here's an "out there" theory. What if she wanted to create this conflict? What if she wanted the Nemesis to defect to the villagers? What if she appeared to him as his dead mother to convince him? What if she knew that her death would enrage Jacob into throwing the Nemesis into the Light? What if this was all a set up on her part, to make Jacob the guardian of the island, protecting the Light, and the Nemesis the guardian of evil, trapped on the island, unable to leave? I don't know what her motivation for this would be exactly, but I find the idea intriguing.

The Rules. Something I wanted to touch on, and Goat talked about this a little bit, was the always mysterious 'rules'. You can't do this, it's against the rules, you can't do that, it's against the rules, blah blah blah. But what are the rules? We don't really know, and we probably won't ever get specifics. But I thought one scene was poignant to the discussion, when Jacob and his brother were playing their game, and he told Jacob that something he did was against the rules, which Jacob found absurd since he made up the rules. So he told Jacob that one day you can make up your own game and everyone will have to follow your rules.

I think there's a lot of truth to that. Things played out on the island according to his mother's rules, because she was the guardian of the Light. Once that responsibility was passed on to Jacob, he began to make the rules, and the Nemesis is bound by those rules. What they are we don't know, but I do think that the rules can and do change depending on who is in charge.

Alright, I'm sure I could find more to talk about in regards to this episode because really, the more I think about it the more I feel like this episode really sets a foundation for the plot of the show (which sounds funny considering it's the third-to-last episode of the series), but instead I will implore you again to please go read Goat's latest post on this week's episode. The man is much better at mincing words than I could hope to be, and his analysis of what we saw this week is some fantastic, fantastic stuff. See you next week.

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Entertainment - LOST 6.15 Thoughts]]>detached watching their story play out.

And I think that was the biggest problem with this episode. You can argue about questions and answers all you want, and I'll discuss some of that later, but I don't think that's what made this episode good or bad. The problem is that we just don't care enough about these characters, so when you dedicate an entire episode to them, and only them, and don't give us anything that we're familiar with, it's tough to really enjoy what we're seeing. Now, "Ab Aeterno" was presented to us under a somewhat similar circumstance, only there were a couple significant differences. First, Richard's flashback was just that, a flashback. We were able to see his backstory, and still bring it all back and tie it into our characters' story, particularly when Richard was able to reunite with his dead wife through Hurley. That's a connection we can all relate to and get behind. The second point is that Richard is someone we cared about, and wanted to know more about. He was largely a mysterious character, sure, but we had seen enough of him to get emotionally invested, to the point where we could handle an episode that was mostly just about him. Not to mention Nestor Carbonell was fantastic and really brought a new life to his character that we had never seen before.

I felt like that's what they were trying to give us in "Across the Sea", play up the emotional history between these two characters and bring them new life. Only we, the viewers, aren't invested in the characters to begin with. And I'm not sure that we need to be, honestly. The think the story points that were hit, Jacob and his brother, the Light of the island, his brother trying to leave, Jacob's "betrayal", the smoke monster, all of these things were relevant, and I'm glad that they were told, and I think they had to be told. But I don't know that they needed to be told in this way. If they had been shown to us as regular flashbacks, that went alongside present-day scenes that focus on the Nemesis, or Jacob, I can't help but feel that we would have bought into what we were seeing a little bit more. Instead, we got some good information in this episode, but I feel like it was overshadowed by a story that we just didn't care too much about, and was also burdened with a lack of quality dialogue and what I felt to be a real lack of emotion throughout.

I try not to spend a lot of time talking about how "good" or "bad" and episode is, because I think things like that are largely subjective to your personal taste and what you enjoy or don't enjoy about the show, and because I would rather spend my time discussing the story, the characters, the theories, where things are headed, and why Kate sucks. But given how tense things are with the show weeks away from completion leading to high expectations every week, and based on both my initial reaction and what I've read online since then, I felt like I should at least address the quality of this week's episode, just to get another perspective out there. And now that that's out of the way, let's actually talk about the episode, shall we?

What we know

Adam & Eve. Let's just get that one out of the way first. We knew it was only a matter of time before we found out who they were, and this was as good a time to tell us as any. I thought they did a really nice job tying that all together, with it being Jacob's mother and brother, the black and white stones from the game they used to play. I thought the flash back to discovering the bodies in Season 1 was unnecessary, you could give your viewers a little more credit in remembering Adam & Eve, especially when you just referenced them earlier in the season, but I digress. If you had Rose & Bernard in your "Who were Adam & Eve?" pool, I'm sorry, you lose.

The Protector of the Island. I don't think we've been given all the information we're going to get on this subject. We know that Jacob is charged with protecting the island. We learned that he inherited that responsibility from the one that was the protector before him, and if we're to believe her (debatable), she inherited it from someone else after she arrived on the island. I found the parallels between this job and the button pushing in the hatch to be strong. Jacob didn't really understand the purpose behind protecting the island, but it's something he has to do, because if something should happen to the Light on the island, life everywhere will cease to exist (at least that's what I took from her saying that this Light was found in every person, and if the Light on the island goes out, it will go out everywhere). When Locke & Jack started pushing the button, they did so not really knowing why, but just knowing that the person who did it before them, Desmond, was told he was saving the world by doing it.

Jacob's betrayal. The Nemesis told of being betrayed by Jacob, and that was certainly a focal point of this episode. First we saw him tell his mother that the Nemesis was planning on leaving the island, leading to her stopping him from being able to leave. Then, after the Nemesis killed his mother, Jacob took him and threw him into the pool of Light, resulting in...well, something, I'm not exactly sure what, but I've got some speculation later. Whatever happened, the Nemesis is stuck on the island, and blames Jacob for betraying him and keeping him on the island.

Senet. In keeping with the recurring theme of Egyptian mythology, the boys were playing a game that appeared to resemble Senet, which Wiki says might possibly be the oldest board game. A nice reference back to the Pilot when Locke is teaching Walt about backgammon, for sure.

Things we don't know

HIS NAME. We're never going to learn his name, are we? Those sneaky bastards. I was waiting, hoping that in all their conversations during the episode that a name might slip out. But when I saw the smoke monster fly out and his dead body subsequently lying by the river, I knew that was it. If he's dead, then it doesn't really matter what his name was, does it? Dammit.

Mother. Lots of recurring themes surrounding our woman of mystery. The shipwrecked survivors not knowing where they are, and encountering someone else already on the island, that got there by accident, same as them. The protector of the island, able to sense that their time was near, and accepting of their death instead of fighting it. Someone apparently able to burn down and destroy an entire village of people. Knowing more about her was the one thing I wish we had gotten out of the episode. A lot of what she did made sense. She kept Jacob and his brother with the intention of making one of them her replacement. She killed their real mother to keep them away from the other people on the island. She isolated them, to keep them innocent, ignorant, and pure. I believe that she did all of this for the sake of finding her successor. She also clearly felt that whatever the Nemesis and his people were working on with regards to the Light, the wheel, and being able to leave the island, it was a threat to the Light, so she put a stop to it. She knew that the Nemesis would kill her for what she had done, so she made Jacob her replacement, and accepted her fate.

But, there were also some questions that were brought up, some I think we'll get more info on, some probably not. Why exactly didn't she want the Nemesis to leave the island? He wasn't always "evil", or at least not that we know of, so what threat did he present by leaving? I don't know if it was him that was a threat, or if him using the Light to leave was a threat, but clearly there was something there. Also, did she fill in the well and destroy the village all on her own? Seems...impressive that she was able to accomplish that all on her own, no? And I couldn't help but feel like the aftermath in the village looked a lot like the Temple after the Nemesis plowed through there. Something doesn't add up there.

The Smoke Monster. Interesting introduction to the Smoke Monster, that's for sure. There's a lot of debate going around about what exactly happened to Jacob's brother when he was thrown into the pool of Light and sucked under. We saw his dead body that was "presumably" dropped off by the smoke monster. But is he really dead? Jacob's mother told him that going in there would be worse than dying. We've seen the Smoke Monster take the form of Jacob's brother, and he seemingly shares his brother's views of trying to get off the island. So...is the Smoke Monster his brother? Was that when it was created? Or did the Smoke Monster just gain a part of his brother when he was thrown into the pool of Light? The Nemesis spoke of his crazy mother to Kate, told Sawyer that he used to be a man just like him, and that he was betrayed by Jacob. I don't expect we've heard the last of what the Smoke Monster is, exactly, at least I certainly hope not. I don't really need to know 'what' he literally is, just some clarification on what it is with regards to Jacob's brother.

Some other things to think about:

-I feel pretty confident saying that the Light is the reason why Charles Widmore is here. I think he knows about the Light, and I think he's trying to find it. Just as Jacob's brother spent 30 years exploring the island, digging wells investigating electromagnetic anomalies, trying to find the Light that his mother showed him all those years ago, Charles Widmore is on a similar path. What he wants with this Light I don't know, since he is not a prisoner of the island. But given his need to have Desmond around, and his curiosity in the drawings Jin made while mapping out the island, I would say he definitely has an interest in finding it. However, at the same time, I think he understands enough to know that the Nemesis can't get off the island, or it would be very, very bad. So while he's there acting in his own interest, he's also fully aware that the Nemesis can't leave, so he has to be careful how he goes about his business.

-Where does this wine come from, exactly? Has anyone seen any grape vines in the six seasons of this show? Do they just import it from Napa Valley or what?

-I find myself thinking a bit about the season premiere, when we saw the island under water. Jacob's mother placed a lot of emphasis on protecting the Light, calling it the heart of the island. So in our flash sideways world, the island is under water, I would have to assume that the Light is gone, but everyone continues on with their lives. Hmm.

Okay, I think that's all I've got for this week. I know this episode most likely came off as disappointing to most of you, and I agree it probably didn't play the way the producers would have liked, but I do think we learned some important information, and I think the backstory will end up being very useful for the last two episodes; I can only assume the put this episode there for a reason. Next week's our last episode before the finale, so I expect it to basically just be an extension of the finale as is frequently the case on LOST. I expect I'll do a post as normal next Wednesday, so I'll see you all then. Thanks for reading.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=330
Entertainment - LOST 6.14 Thoughts]]>The Nemesis is a bad, bad man. As has been said all season, the Nemesis is a man that deals in deception, manipulation, and corruption. His only goal is to get off the island, and he will say, promise, or do anything to anyone to make that happen. He successfully manipulated Locke in order to become him. He then used Locke to manipulate Ben into killing Jacob. He manipulated Sawyer, Claire, Sayid, even Jack, into going along with what he wanted. All the while he did this by promising to get them off the island, but making it clear that everyone had to go together. Now, I don't think any of us actually expected that to be true, but we still didn't know exactly what the Nemesis' plan was, although there was certainly some speculation as to his motivation. And if you had 'The Nemesis needs all of the Candidates dead in order to leave the island', then give yourself a pat on the back. The cat's out of the bag, his purpose is exposed for all to see. Whether he needs every one on the island dead is still unknown (but mostly irrelevant, since if he needs to it would just be a matter of time while he hunts everyone down), but what we can now confirm is that he needs each and every remaining Candidate dead. The caveat, though, is that he can't kill any of them. If you're not a Candidate? Fine, no problem, he will kill you, and quickly. But Jack, Sayid, Hurley, Sawyer, and the Kwons, can't do it. It's against the rules. But they can die. Similar to Jacob, the Nemesis just needed to find someone else to do it for him.

Well, he was somewhat successful in his plot, but he faces a bit of a problem now. He still has Hurley, Jack, and Sawyer to deal with, and they're probably all a little pissed off, and very aware of his intentions. So while they may have suspiciously gone along with what he wanted before, even though they didn't necessarily trust him, now he's shown his hand, and none of them are going to even remotely go along with anything he wants. The Nemesis wants to finish what he started, but he's going to need some kind of leverage to get it done. If you've tried to kill someone, and they now know that you tried to kill them, how are you supposed to convince them to put themselves into another situation where they have the opportunity to die again? All that power and influence that the Nemesis had is gone. He undoubtedly has another trick up his sleeve, but I would say Jack & Co. have all the control right now.

Was this a Martin Scorsese directed episode? Killing off all those characters in the span of ten minutes made me feel like I was watching The Departed. It didn't really hit me until everyone made it to the beach and came to terms with what happened, but what a heart-wrenching way to end the episode. We had three deaths involving characters that have been with the show since Day 1, and another character that was at the very least promoted to the main cast this year even if he wasn't the most significant of people. One thing LOST is fairly consistent about is having people die after they've reached some kind of epiphany, or resolution, in their life. With Boone, he reached a point in his life where he was able to be content with his relationship with Shannon. With Eko, he was able to confront his brother Yemi, and come to terms with why his life played out the way that it did, and was not sorry for 'saving' his brother's life as a child. Charlie was able to redeem himself, doing something heroic, to try and save everyone else, before he died. It's not a set rule, and not everyone has had that sort of redemption before they died, but it's definitely a recurring theme.

This week was no different. Sayid, who was infected and joined Locke's cause, was compared to Darth Vader by Hurley last week. It turned out to be an appropriate comparison, as Vader was a man that worked for evil, but ultimately still had some good in him, which he was finally able to show when he saved Luke's life by killing the Emperor and sacrificing himself in the process. Vader originally turned to the dark side so that he would always be able to be with the love of his life. Sayid joined the Nemesis under the promise of being able to be with Nadia again, even if it meant joining the side of evil. But ultimately Sayid sacrificed himself to save everyone else. It was his redeeming moment, even though it meant not getting to see Nadia again. With Sun & Jin, it wasn't a moment of redemption, as much as it was a sign of their story reaching a resolution of sorts. Ever since the freighter, they have been apart, and once they discovered that the other one was still alive, they've been spending all of their time trying to come together once again. We finally saw the long-awaited reunion last week, and usually that's a bad sign in terms of your longevity on the show. I remember how concerned I was for Sawyer after he killed Locke's father, as that was his only real true purpose in his life, and once that was done, I figured he was a prime candidate for death, but he managed to avoid that fate. With Jin & Sun, there story has always been one of separation and reunion. It's fittingly tragic that they were able to reunite one last time before having to come to terms with their deaths. As for Lapidus, well, I'll call it karma for trying to kick down the door to his cage. You want to kick down the door? Now the door will kick you down.

I guess many of us have gone into this season expecting there to be some major character deaths, because it is the end of the show, there's no reason to hold back. It definitely doesn't make it any easier to accept. And to just knock them all off like that one after the other...brutal.

The Flash Sideways are still a mystery. We had a very surprising lack of Desmond in the flash sideways world this week. For someone who seems to be so important he was noticeably absent in both storylines. I had thought that the way this was all going to come together was going to involve a mass meeting at the hospital (Jack, Locke, Sun, Jin, Sawyer, Miles, Claire), but apparently that's not exactly where they're headed. We've seen Desmond try and 'reconnect' people with the other world. Charlie showed it to Desmond, and Desmond showed it to Hurley. Desmond then hit Locke with his car, and while some people thought that he was trying to reconnect Locke by putting him in a near death experience, I wasn't so sure that was the case. Basically, I don't think that Desmond is trying to show everyone, because I don't think everyone matters. I think when it came to Locke, Desmond wanted to use him to get to someone else, that someone else being Jack. This was also his approach with Claire. He 'accidentally' ran into her on purpose, but he didn't do so to make her see the other world, he ran into her so that he could reunite her with Jack. Jack has run into Desmond, he's run into Locke, he's run into Claire, he's run into Bernard. All people from Oceanic Flight 815. He hasn't made the realization yet, but he knows there's something very strange about all of these people from the same flight from Sydney showing up in his life.

So we know that Hurley matters, and we know that Jack matters. Will Desmond try and show up in someone else's life? Sawyer, perhaps? He's the only other surviving candidate. And if he doesn't, does that mean Sawyer's not long for our world? And of course, the question that we know is not going to be answered until the finale, what does the sideways world have to do with the Nemesis, the Island, and our other timeline?

Let's get to some quick hits:

-Sorry, I'm going to nitpick for a bit, something I generally try and avoid, but Jin & Sun were my favorite characters once upon a time, so I was a little disappointed with how their reunion was handled. Now, I get that Jin & Sun just aren't the enjoyable, intriguing characters that they once were in the first two seasons. As I mentioned earlier, they've largely just been used as side characters, given a singular goal of trying to reunite with each other. I didn't expect their reunion to have the same effect on everyone that, say, their reunion in Season 2 after Jin came back from the raft. But, I knew that they were still able to give us a good, touching scene between the two, because we saw that in the flash sideways in Sun's hotel room. The one time we really get to see the best of the two of them is when they are together, sharing a moment. The rest of the time, they are quiet, and relatively isolated from everyone else, because that's just who they are. It's their culture, and it is only enhanced by the fact that everyone else is basically either American, living in America, or can and has been speaking fluent English for a long time. While Sun can speak English, it's not her primary language, and she's very much a Korean at heart, as is Jin. So they were always somewhat isolated from the rest of the group, and when they had to be somewhere by themselves, you just weren't going to get a lot of emotion from them. But this week, I thought the writers really missed an opportunity when Jin & Sun were in the cage together, talking about Ji Yeon. Having them converse in English really ruined what should have been a special moment for me. I'm a little conflicted, because looking back this was literally the only time we ever saw them have a conversation together in English, aside from the few brief lines last week. But at the same time, it just didn't feel as genuine, or heartfelt, as it would have been if they had been speaking in their native Korean. Like I said, it's nitpicking, but I do wish they would have given me that last great moment between the two of them.

-I'm still undecided regarding my feelings on Jin choosing to die with Sun rather than trying to live to be with their daughter. On one hand, it would be better for Ji Yeon to at least have one of her parents growing up than neither of them, but on the other hand, I can certainly understand the bond between Jin & Sun, and the idea of losing her, and not being with her again, compared to the idea of a bond with a daughter he's never even met and hadn't even seen a picture of before two days ago. I feel like he sort of wasted his life, but at the same time, I kind of understand why he did it. And then, way in the back of my head, where all my crazy theories lie, I wonder if Ji Yeon will still yet end up playing a role on the show (We never did find out which Kwon was a Candidate).

-I think the next time we see Miles he should be wearing a bright red shirt. Seriously, Sayid, Lapidus, Jin, and Sun all dead? Let's look at our remaining major characters, shall we? Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Hurley, Claire, Ben, Richard...and Miles. Can anyone tell me which person doesn't belong?

-Did Charles Widmore hire this guy to be one of his scientists?

Those bamboo stairs outside the plane were AWESOME. If I ever live in a house with a staircase, I am totally replacing them with bamboo stairs.

-I was sad at the lack of fish biscuits. It would have been so easy to get one too with all those people in the cage to help Sawyer!

-When Sawyer laid out his brilliant plan to infiltrate the sub, I thought he was doing his Jack Bauer impression. Only he clearly sucks at it, because watching him try and disarm that bomb was an epic failure. I knew Jack Bauer. Jack Bauer was a friend of mine. Sawyer, you're no Jack Bauer.

-I couldn't have been the only person to cheer when Kate got shot, right? But of course, because we had a bunch of dumbass scientists with guns instead of mercenaries, she only got shot in the shoulder and will probably survive. Le sigh. You could have just left her behind Hurley, no one would have thought any less of you. On the bright side, we know now for sure that she's expendable, so there's still hope.

-See Jack, here's the problem. Last time you wanted to put everyone in a situation that threatened their lives by letting a bomb explode, not only did what you thought would happen not happen, but the love of Sawyer's life, Juliet, died as a result. So when you put Sawyer in a similar situation by telling him to let the timer on a bomb count down to zero and telling him to trust you and that nothing will happen, I can't say I blame Sawyer for being a little hesitant about wanting to jump on board with your latest crazy plan.

-Jack and Sawyer are cool now, right? Jack inadvertently caused Juliet to die, Sawyer inadvertently caused Jin, Sun, Sayid, and Lapidus to die. I think we can all stop with the animosity and go back to being friends now, right?

-It was subtle, but I really liked seeing Hurley cry on the beach. He tends to be the comedic relief, so you don't get a lot of emotional scenes with him, but that was a really good one, in a sad kind of way of course.

-Hey Widmore, all of your people suck at not dying, and none of your plans are working. I must say, I'm incredibly disappointed with your efforts at doing whatever it is you're trying to do. Get it together man.

-I know it's not the same Anthony Cooper, but I really didn't feel sorry for the fact that he's stuck in a vegetative state. If that makes me a bad person, oh well.

-Great interactions between Jack and Locke in the flash sideways, exactly what you'd expect in scenes between those two. We saw more bleed over from the other world when Locke was unconscious talking about pushing the button, and wishing Jack had believed him. Jack even repeated the same line to Locke later on. Jack's not quite there, but he's getting close.

-Interesting last line from Sayid. Aside from confirming for us that he did not actually shoot Desmond, he told Jack "Because it's going to be you Jack" when he asked Sayid why he was telling him all of this. Hmm.

Okay, that's all I've got for this week. I was expecting a shorter write-up, but apparently it didn't work out that way. I'm very geeked for next week's episode, which looks to be a Jacob/Nemesis-centric episode, and I've been eagerly anticipating it since I found out what it would be from Michael Emerson a couple months ago. On the Chronologically LOST front, you'll see that I still haven't posted anything to the site, although I'm working on an FAQ post for some regular questions I've been getting about the project, so I hope to have that up sooner rather than later. The project itself is coming along, I'm in the midst of working on the last major phase of the project. First part was getting every LOST episode ripped and encoded so that they were all ready to be used. Second part was going through each episode on a season-by-season basis and cutting up every flashback, flashforward, and flash sideways, and organizing them in chronological order. Now, the last phase is integrating all of the seasons into one master timeline, and making sure audio/video transitions are smooth, as well as dealing with any potential split screen sequences that pop up. That's what I'm working on right now. I think things are progressing nicely, and I'm still planning on kicking things off shortly after the show ends. I'll see you all next week, thanks for reading.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=329
Entertainment - Chronologically LOST]]>much wiser man than myself speculated during Season 5 about what it would be like to watch LOST in chronological order. Think about it.

The show would open up with a flash of light, and a man, John Locke, is falling in a cave, injuring his leg. Above him, a group of people are standing around, trying to get their bearings, and noticing a very large Egyptian-looking statue. Elsewhere a man, Faraday, comforts a dying woman, Charlotte. Back in the cave we see John Locke turn the frozen wheel, giving us another flash of white light and then...we're off to the Canary Islands, where we see Richard trying to save his wife. He kills a man and is arrested and then sold to a slave ship. Next we go back to the island where we see a man, Jacob, weaving, fishing, going about his life. He's sitting on the beach, with another man, his Nemesis, talking about the very same slave ship that Richard is on. The slave ship crashes on the island, we see Richard meet the Nemesis, then Jacob. Richard is employed by Jacob to act on his behalf to those that come to the island, and in return he is given eternal life. Then we fast forward far into the future, to 1954, where the Oceanic survivors are disoriented on the beach and trying to figure out what to do. But many are killed in a flaming arrow attack, and the remaining survivors are captured by the indigenous (well, relatively speaking) people of the island, the Others. John Locke "meets" Richard, we are introduced to a leaky hydrogen bomb that the US Army brought to the island before being killed by the Others, and then we have another flash of light. Now, we're taken to 1956, and a hospital, for the birth of John Locke. Richard Alpert is present for his birth, because a grown up John Locke told him to go there two years prior.

And so the story goes on. We see Ben born, Locke as a child, Ben arriving on the island as a child, Sawyer, Juliet, and everyone else appearing on the island in 1974 and joining the Dharma Initiative. We watch the Incident play out, see some of our LOSTies grow up, and watch as decisions in their life drive them all towards a trip to Australia, and a spot aboard Oceanic 815. The bulk of our story takes place on the island in 2004. Our survivors leave the island, and their lives play out for three years before they return. In 2007, back on the island, is where the story finally winds down, with Jacob dying, the Nemesis trying to escape, and all of our characters aligning themselves accordingly.

It's certainly a different way to view the show. Perhaps in the eyes of a newcomer, it would be a difficult show to take in, with too many unknown variables and too much uncertainty. But in our eyes, the established viewer, it's simply a new way to watch the show. Now, some of you may have no interest in rewatching the show, it could be something where you just sit through the show, it's done, and you won't revisit it again. But I think there are a fair number of you that are like me, and enjoy rewatching the show, going back and watching old seasons, playing audio from the episodes on your iPod while you sleep at night. Okay, maybe I'm the only person that does that last one. But that second group, that's the group that this post is directed towards.

When Julius first threw the idea out there, I thought it would be a really cool way to watch the show. So I got to thinking a bit about whether or not it was even possible to do. I mean, let's face it, this isn't exactly a short series. 120 episodes when it's all said and done, 90 hours of television, spanning hundreds of years over the LOST timeline. That's a big story to tell.

Over the past few months, I've been taking all of my LOST DVDs, transferring them to my computer, and cutting each episode up, making note of what year, what date every flashback, flash forward, and present day scene takes place in, and slowly but surely, organizing everything into chronological order. Two things have made this project possible. One is Lostpedia which has put countless hours into creating a fairly comprehensive timeline that gave me a guideline to use when putting everything into order. The other is DePaul University, which is currently holding my wife hostage in their MBA program, meaning that aside from working 40 hours a week, she also has class twice a week, and if she's not in class she's spending much of her free time studying or doing homework for class. That has given me a lot of time to myself, time which I have been able to use working on this project instead. So I've been spending most of my free time over the past four or five months working on this, because video editing is what all the cool kids are doing these days.

I've been holding off on really sharing any details about it, because I didn't really want to talk about it and then have it not work for some reason, or run into some limitations that would make it impossible to complete. But as we near the end of the series, and I near completion of the project, I think we're at the point where I can tell everyone what I've been working on.

So basically, I've taken the entirety of LOST, and rearranged everything into chronological order. From beginning to end. I took all five seasons of my DVDs, and TV captures of Season 6, and split and spliced everything back together into a new timeline. My plan is to share this with as many people as I can to give you all a new way of experiencing LOST. For the sake of convenience, I plan on grouping the timeline into 45 minute (or so) "episodes", when they are created. I'm still working out the best way to distribute this to everyone, since this is a LOT of video to deal with, so more to come on that later. I will be keeping all updates and relevant information on the project on a different site, ChronologicallyLost.com (Which is currently just a blank blog template), although I will probably make the occasional post about it here.

That's the long and the short of it. I'm hoping to get everything going as soon after the series finale as possible. I don't know how long it will take to release each episode, I'm hoping not too long since most of the leg work is done, it's just a matter of actually converting and uploading the episode. I haven't actually started creating any episodes yet, since it's entirely possible that we're not done with our flashbacks yet and something else could show up that will need to be inserted into the timeline.

I hope some of you are as excited about this as I am (in my experience working on this so far I'm very happy with how it looks and flows together), and if you have any questions about any of this, or any suggestions on distribution methods, please leave me a comment or drop me an e-mail. More to come on this later.

One of the fun things with this show is listening to what the "bad guys" have to say and try and figure out what's the truth, and what is a lie. Take Benjamin Linus. For as long as we've known him, he's been a liar. First time we ever saw him he was claiming to be someone he's not. You could write books about all the lies he's told in his time on the island. And yet, sometimes he's actually telling the truth. But it's very difficult to tell the difference between his lies and his truths. He's fantastic at deceiving people, and manipulating them. It's a very similar situation to what we currently have with the Nemesis, which I suppose is appropriate since Ben was manipulated by the Nemesis for years. He deals in deception, his one ultimate goal is trying to leave the island, and everything he does is done with the purpose of accomplishing that goal. He appears as other people in order to manipulate, he kills those that oppose him or that pose a threat (assuming he can kill them), he tells people whatever they want to hear so that they'll do what he wants. He's very...persuasive. And yet, at times, it seems like perhaps he's telling us the truth. Perhaps it's not always the literal truth, and may be more of a truth from his point of view, but it's some kind of truth nonetheless. But like Ben, determining which is the truth and which isn't is easier said than done.

So where does the truth lie? (pun intended) Well, I think it lays out like this: We know the Nemesis is trying to get off the island. It's not as simple as him just being able to up and leave, otherwise he'd be gone already. He needed Jacob dead, but couldn't kill him, so he had someone else do it. He claims to need everyone on the Ajira plane in order for him to be able to leave, similar to how the Ajira flight was able to come to the island with Jack, Hurley, Sun, Sayid, Ben, Locke, Kate, and Frank on it. And yet, that shouldn't really matter, since leaving the island is more about following a certain path, or heading, than it is about who is leaving with you. So while he probably needs everyone, or at the very least the remaining candidates, he needs them for something else, not to just get on the plane with him so that he can leave. He's already saved Sawyer's life on the cliff by the cave, it's likely he saved Sayid's life when he was dying, we just saw him save Jack's life from the explosions. These people need to stay alive to help him fulfill his ultimate goal. He's also willing to convince them to follow him by promising people things.

He promised Claire that he would reunite her with her baby.
He promised Sayid that he would be with Nadia again.
He tried to promise Sun that he could take her to Jin if she went with him.
He promised Sawyer that he would get him off the island.

But he can't force them to do anything. He wants them to go with him, to do what he wants, but he can't make them. We also know that he can't cross large bodies of water, which is why he has to travel to Hydra Island by boat instead of floating over there as black smoke. He feels like he has been wronged by Jacob, that Jacob has betrayed him, and is unfairly trapped on the island. Jacob says that he is trapped there for the good of mankind, so at this point we don't really know who to believe.

And now we have our latest revelation from the Nemesis: John Locke was a sucker. The man of faith was stupid enough to believe that he was really on the island for a reason, and it was his blind faith in his destiny, in the island, that allowed the Nemesis to manipulate him, ultimately get him killed, and provide him with a way to kill Jacob and leave the island. It's certainly a bold statement for the Nemesis to make to Jack, basically flat out admitting his deception, his lies, knowing that he still needs Jack's help to do whatever it is he needs to do to get off the island. And on one hand, he's telling Jack of his manipulation, and on the other hand, he's trying to paint himself as the good guy, telling Jack that it was him who appeared as his father when they first came to the island, because he just wanted to help Jack find water. He was simply trying to help Jack. H wanted to help Jack get off the island. But he couldn't, because of Jacob. So once again, it all comes down to being able to tell the difference between his truths and his lies. The Nemesis claims to have used Locke, which is probably true. But does that make Locke stupid for having the faith that he did in his purpose on the island? Not necessarily. With Jack now rallying to the same cause as Locke, you feel like there was something there, a reason for believing in his destiny on the island. The Nemesis knows that he ultimately has to break Jack, and get him to come to his side, only Jack's different from Locke. He's still a man of science, but he's come to accept his part as a man of faith as well, which makes him a very difficult enemy to face. Jack is on his own now. On one side we have Jack. On the other side we have Locke. As we get into the end of the series, our 'final battle' and whatnot, Jack vs. Locke is really the way it has to go down, right? It just fits.

Let's get to some quick hits:

-I wonder how many of the Others are left. I mean, you can't just kill off Cindy and the kids like that, right? It's kind of crazy to think that the Others, all of them, have been almost completely wiped out. But I suppose it's appropriate. Everyone that was on the island before Richard had died, so it's not like the island has never been without inhabitants. Still, it's like the end of an era. The once almighty and powerful Others, reduced to just a handful of scared remaining few.

-Can Sawyer really be mad at Widmore for calling off his end of the deal when Sawyer was just going to screw him over anyways?

-It wasn't made out to be much of a line, but I was glad they fleshed out Sawyer's logic for stealing the sub. This idea that "stealing a plane is stupid, let's steal a sub instead, that makes much more sense" was a little thin, but hearing it from his point of view, it makes a lot of sense. He knows that it's difficult to leave the island, and he knows that Dharma and the Others used a sub to leave, so since that's what he knows, that's his preferred method for leaving. Easy enough.

-We can now officially check off "Christian was the smoke monster" from our list of mysteries. It's sort of crazy to sit back and think about how much the Nemesis screwed with Locke. He told Locke to move the island, he told Locke he had to die (via Richard), he told Locke he would have to die, he told Locke that he would have to bring everyone back. The deception of John Locke goes deep.

-What, are we really expecting missiles to kill the Nemesis? If you shoot him it just makes him mad, so what are missiles supposed to do? Maybe Widmore figured why not since it's not like the Nemesis can get to him right now anyways. And just to throw a continuity error out there, why not shoot a missile at the outrigger the Nemesis was in when he headed over to Hydra Island? If he has a problem with water, then why not blow up his boat? That should cause some problems. Sorry, I'll stop now, I just think the missiles are dumb.

-Has Kate ever seen someone leave and not wanted to go after them? Good lord, just let it go already.

-I kept having movie scenes pop into my head during the episode. When Jack had his heart to heart with Sawyer and jumped into the water, it reminded me of The Matrix (since I don't reference that movie enough) when Neo stopped running and decided to face Agent Smith. I could hear Morpheus say in the background "He's beginning to believe". Also, thanks to Hurley, I had Luke's voice in my head telling Obi Wan that "there is still good in him" when they were talking about Sayid.

-So, we had the Nemesis tell Richard to just kill Jacob before he could talk to you, implying that his persuasive nature would otherwise get the best of Richard. Then we had Dogen tell Sayid the same thing when he went to kill the Nemesis. Now, the Nemesis didn't say this to Sayid, but I found it interesting that he was set to kill Desmond, but once Desmond starting talking to him, he got Sayid to hesitate. If he didn't kill Desmond as we assume he didn't, that's another instance of Desmond acting very much like Jacob.

-Speaking of Desmond, clearly he's looked at as a threat to the Nemesis. He kidnapped him from Widmore, pushed him down a well (but seemingly wanted to keep him alive, just incapacitated), and then ordered Sayid to kill him at the slightest chance of Widmore getting him back.

-Awesome to see Sun & Jin back together. I've seen it mentioned by many so far, and I was thinking the same thing, that when they were running towards each other, there were some serious concerns that the fence was still on and that they were going to die instead of getting to embrace each other.

-I've mentioned Frank's role reduction into the guy that says one or two obvious/funny things every episode, but my friend Q put it best this week: "I'm really happy that the "Captain Obvious" character on this show is actually a real captain, complete with the appropriate wardrobe. Last night, when Jin and Sun embraced and Sun got her voice back he was right there to basically look right into the camera and go "Hey y'all? Y'see? She can speak English again! Wowzers!""

-That Claire/Kate scene was such a tease. I actually thought for half a second that Claire would pull the trigger.

-Frank's looking like a bit of a redshirt now that it's basically him and the rest of the Oceanic crew. Hope that doesn't mean he's due for some dying in the near future.

-How long is canned food good for? You know that stuff has been there for at least three years.

-Let's talk flash sideways world. It certainly looks that most of our time spent there will involve Desmond setting people up to see the light, or at least to get the Oceanic people to interact with each other, perhaps with the intention of getting them all to remember each other. Which is fine, but I think we're going to have to wait to see it all come together until the very end.

-There was some speculation that perhaps the reason Sun lost her ability to speak English was because she didn't speak English in the sideways world, implying that some of her sideways consciousness bled over into the real world as a result of the head trauma. I think we saw another indication of this when Sun was brought to the hospital and saw Locke next to her. She clearly recognized him and was not happy to see him, which is the type of reaction you might expect from her if she recognized The Nemesis. Hmm.

-Everything's starting to converge. We've got Sayid who freed Jin and was arrested by Sawyer. We've got Kate who took Claire to the hospital and was arrested by Sawyer. We've got Sun who is in love with Jin, was shot and went to the hospital where Jack works. Jack is now at the hospital, operating on John Locke. Sawyer will most likely make an appearance at the hospital soon to question Sun and Jin about the shooting. Everyone went off to live their own lives, only to have everything come back together anyways. The more things change the more they stay the same.

-Claire is tiny! I'm going to have to go back and rewatch a Claire and Kate scene to see if Kate the dwarf is actually taller than someone. Jack looks like he's got at least a foot on her.

-Any thoughts on the episode title being "The Last Recruit"? I had initially thought that since the Nemesis had been "recruiting" people, ie. Sayid, that there was going to be someone we know join his team. That didn't happen, although another way to look at it might be that of all the people Locke was trying to join his cause, Jack is all that's left on the island. I dunno, usually the episode title is clear by the end of the show, but I was still a little confused by that one.

Alright, I think that's all I've got for this week. Quite depressed about the week off, and also a little depressed that there's only 5 more hours of the show left. At the same time I'm really eager with anticipation to just see the rest of the show, know the whole story. Very conflicting feelings going on, that's for sure. I'll be back in a couple weeks to review our next episode. Until then, thanks for reading.

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Entertainment - LOST 6.12 Thoughts]]>@DamonLindelof For those of you considering switching over to Glee, we have copious Madonna songs tonight too. And by "Madonna songs," I mean "explosions."

I had heard a rumor very early on in the season that Season 6 was to be split up into three acts. I didn't know what that meant, in what context these acts were to happen, or even how they were to be split up. However, there are 18 hours in this season, so logically they would be split up into three acts of six episodes. Episode six of this season was Sundown, in which we saw an end to our time in the Temple, with the Nemesis wiping out everyone who remained there, and heading off with the remaining Others/Losties to try and get off the island. The image of Locke, torch in hand, marching off into the darkness of the jungle with his followers behind him was very iconic, and served as the closing of the first act. In our second act, we began to see pieces of the story come together. We were given clearly defined camps, one camp with Ilana leading and trying to protect the candidates she has, Jack, Hurley, and perhaps Sun, with Richard there to advise on what to do, and Ben and Frank tagging along. The other camp contains the Nemesis, and the candidates he has managed to scoop up, Sawyer, Sayid, and Jin (temporarily), with Kate hanging out since no one else likes her enough to want her around, the always crazy Claire, and all of the surviving Others that are looking to be free of the island. But then we were introduced to the third party, possibly the final key group that brings this all together. Charles Widmore and his merry band of scientists arrive on Hydra Island via submarine, with a locked up Desmond onboard.

We learned that the Nemesis wants to get off the island. We learned that in order to do this, he seemingly needs all of the candidates, and alive (or perhaps he just can't kill them). We've seen hints that he probably doesn't care what happens to some people (Kate) once he's done using them for his purposes. We learned that Richard's goal is to stop the Nemesis from leaving the island. It's what he was tasked to do by his wife, perhaps via Jacob. If the Nemesis isn't stopped, once he leaves the island everything will cease to exist. Richard understands the consequences, and so does Charles Widmore, who said as much. Widmore's goal (at least one of them) is to also stop the Nemesis from leaving the island. However, he seems to have a very different plan in mind. Richard wants to blow up the plane so that the Nemesis can't leave. Charles Widmore brought Desmond back to the island because of his interaction with electromagnetic energy. Whatever his plan is, it involves Desmond, the electromagnetic energy pockets on the island, and potentially the flash sideways world.

So, to close out the act, we have our groups being reorganized, plans being altered, strategies being worked out. Ilana is no more, having gone Dr. Arzt on us, causing a split among the camp. Richard wants to continue on his plan to blow up the plane, and has enlisted Ben and Miles to help. Hurley, meanwhile, is trying his best to step into the leadership role, and has taken Jack, Sun, and Frank to the Nemesis' camp, to try and talk to him. Desmond, the key to Widmore's plan, has been pushed down a well by the Nemesis, and his fate is currently unknown. Everyone seems to have some semblance of a plan, and in our last act we should see it all play out. Just as our first act ended with the Nemesis walking out into the jungle at night, our second act ends with Hurley, torch in hand, walking through the jungle, with his followers behind him, straight into the lion's den.

Where do we go from here? Well, the Nemesis has been trying to get all of the Candidates together, which he now has, save for maybe Jin, so whatever his ultimate plan is, I'd say we're getting close to the point of execution. The problem for the Nemesis is that he he can't force the Candidates to do anything, they have to willingly make the choice to do what he wants. He's got Sayid in his pocket, Sawyer might be along for the ride (or he is just planning to con the Nemesis, you never can tell with him), but the other three will be tougher. Sun obviously wants nothing to do with him, but she also trusts Jack. Hurley is clearly entrenched in Jacob's camp, but he could be susceptible to manipulation and trickery. Jack, now Jack's the most difficult challenge for the Nemesis. Jack is smart, stubborn, and has long been at odds with John Locke. He's also now a believer in whatever it is Jacob wants. There's only one possible weakness I can think of that might give the Nemesis the advantage: Kate. The Nemesis told us that she was no longer a candidate, but he still has use for her right now, which is why he doesn't want Claire killing her. What else can affect Jack the way that Kate can? Sure, they were no longer together off the island, but that doesn't mean the feelings aren't still there. And what other purpose could Kate possibly serve, but to be a tool that the Nemesis can manipulate.

Meanwhile, Charles Widmore may have a problem, but he may not. We don't know fully what Desmond's purpose is, but we do know that at least part of it involves his role in the flash sideways world. And he can be doing whatever he wants on the island for that to play out. But, while he is most likely still alive, he's at the bottom of a well on the island, where no one but the Nemesis knows where he is. Certainly a dangerous place to be, and the fact that he was so closely guarded by Widmore means he's probably still of some use to Charles. Something that should be interesting in the next episode is the fact that Charles Widmore is on Hydra Island. The airplane is on Hydra Island. Richard, Ben, and Miles are going to blow up the plane, on Hydra Island. Which means it is only a matter of time until Charles is not only reunited with Richard, but with Ben as well. Two mortal enemies, seemingly fighting for the same cause. I don't know about you, but I'm very excited for that encounter.

Let's do some quick hits:

-Okay, yeah, this idea of "love" being the thing that shows people the truth in the flash sideways world is a tad lame. I get that. But at the same time, one of the things I've always felt that LOST did well was it's love stories (Well, except for the Jack/Kate/Sawyer love triangle, but that's mostly because Kate is awful). Desmond and Penny have had great moments on screen together, same with Jin and Sun, and even Libby & Hurley for the brief time they were together. So I'll go along with it. I am curious to see who all Desmond is going to try and "wake up", and if he has to use some kind of a romantic tie-in for everyone. Also, so far the people that have been aware of memories from the other world have been Charlie (dead), Daniel (dead), and Libby (dead). I can't imagine this is just a coincidence (I'm excluding Eloise since she's clearly an exception and knows more than anyone about all of this).

-Sucks to be Locke, doesn't it? That was a pretty brutal hit that he took. I'm not sure what Desmond's intention is here. If he's trying to jog Locke's memory, you'd think there would be a less painful way to do it. And if he's trying to kill him, you'd think there would be a more effective way to do it. If the flash sideways world has something to do with the real world, and in the real world Locke is the Nemesis, maybe incapacitating Locke in the sideways world has some carry over effect? Or maybe it hinders whatever it is the Nemesis is trying to do to escape?

-Hurley did tell his mother that he had an awards banquet for The Human Fund, right? Am I just making this up? I went back and watched it again and I swear that's what he said. I hope so, you can never have enough Seinfeld references in your life.

-Desmond's acting very Jacob-like in the flash sideways world, isn't he? Making small talk, trying to influence the lives of others into making choices that will get them to where he wants them to be. But not forcing people to get to that point, but just helping them along the path.

-Ilana's Arzt moment was, wow. It was one of those completely unexpected moments that just had me sitting there in utter disbelief. Just a very quick, shocking, out of nowhere death for what was thought to be one of the more main characters on the show this year. I understand it more now from a story perspective, this way Ben and Richard can go off to Widmore's camp, Hurley can take his people to the Nemesis' camp, instead of everyone falling under Ilana's umbrella. Plus, it's not like had any clue what she was supposed to do outside of "protect the Candidates". But still, that's a pretty raw deal. Jacob tasks her with protecting the Candidates, very important thing that she spends a lot of time preparing for, and then just like that, boom, blowed up.

-Have we learned our lesson yet about handling unstable dynamite? It's dangerous. You can't just be putting sticks of it in a bag, and tossing your water bottles in there and casually tossing the bag onto the ground. That's why it's unstable. Geez.

-Jack rules now. I've been waiting all series to see Jack be all that he can be. Jack knows that he's out of his element, he has no control over what's going on, but unlike Season 5, he feels like he has a purpose. So he's willing to be engaged, to help out, but at the same time isn't demanding that things be done his way. If Hurley's the one that knows how to get things done, then he will follow Hurley and go from there. Love it.

-Also, Sayid's starting to grow on me as a bad guy henchman (as opposed to the good guy henchmen, I suppose). I wish he didn't have to deadpan everything, but he's a pretty big bad ass, so this is an appropriate role for him.

-I thought it was appropriate that Desmond be pushed down the well by the Nemesis, since not only is Locke the only other person that we've seen fall down a well, but Desmond also hit him with his car in the flash sideways world.

-You may now check "What are the whispers on the island?" off your master list of unanswered LOST questions. 1 down, 3,876 to go.

-Hurley went through Ilana's things, found the bag of Jacob's ashes, and then kept them. Seems like he knew what they were, didn't he?

-We see a mysterious kid in the jungle. The Nemesis can see him. Richard cannot. The boy tells the Nemesis that he can't kill 'him', that it's against the rules. The next time we see the kid, the Nemesis is with Desmond, who can also see him. This is right before Desmond gets pushed down a well. I'm not saying Desmond was the 'him' the boy was referring to, but...well, yes, that's what I'm saying.

-Desmond's on island calmness is a little unnerving. I get him being Mr. Cool in the flash sideways world, because ultimately he's trying to bring people back from there. But on the island, he still has a wife and kid, it would certainly behoove him to try and stay alive, wouldn't it? Shouldn't he at least be concerned about that?

Okay, I think that's all I've got for this week. If you haven't seen the promo for next week, I encourage you to check it out, because it has a creepy Willy Wonka audio clip playing over it for whatever reason (Willy Wonka is Jacob~!!), and it's totally awesome. Also, sorry to be a buzkill, but in case you haven't heard, LOST is taking a one week break after next week's episode. At least now you have some time to come to terms with it. My wife and I discovered last night that the number of weeks left didn't quite add up, I thought that they were just going to take the Tuesday before the series finale off since the finale's on a Sunday, but I guess not. Suck. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next week.

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Entertainment - LOST 6.11 Thoughts]]>In usual LOST fashion we were given answers in the most mysterious way possible, and vital information was withheld from us to be revealed at a later time, so that we can see some of the picture, but not everything. So let's try and piece together what we do know:

Epilogue? Well, those of you that were concerned that all of these flash sideways stories were an epilogue to the show's eventual end can rejoice, as that is most certainly not the case. Not to worry, the last five years of this show are still relevant, and are not going to be rendered irrelevant by the events of the series finale. No, instead this world is much akin to the world that Desmond was thrown into after turning the key in the hatch at the end of Season 2, which we saw in "Flashes Before Your Eyes". It's a reality, but it's a not quite right reality. The people in it, some of them have seen things, from another time, another place (our world), but don't quite know what it means, just that something about where they are now doesn't make sense. Charlie experienced this when he was close to death on the airplane. Daniel experienced this when he saw Charlotte, and later when he wrote down some complex quantum physics equations in his notebook. Desmond experienced this when he was saving Charlie from drowning, and also when he was having an MRI done on his head. We've also seen some possible instances of this happening in previous flash-sideways episodes. Jack meets Desmond on the plane, feels like he's met him before, he looks in the mirror, questions the appearance of his appendix scar. Kate almost seemed to recognize the stuffed animal orca toy that was in Claire's bag for her baby, since Aaron had that same stuffed animal in the real timeline. There are certain things in this world that seem to trigger a connection with our world, much like someone with amnesia trying to surround themselves with familiar things in their life to try and regain their memories. Desmond has traveled to this world (or a world similar to it) three times now. The first, he was brought back to the island after a swift swing of the cricket bat to the head. The second, he returned after shaking Penny's hand for the first time. Now, he seems to have gone back again, looking for passengers from Oceanic flight 815. What are his plans? How is this connected with Widmore's plans? What does this have to do with the Nemesis?

Eloise. I don't know about you, but I was eagerly awaiting the appearance of Eloise (Hawking) Widmore. In "Flashes Before Your Eyes", she was seemingly impervious to this other world that Desmond was in. Whatever her place was, she also knew of the world that Desmond had come from, she knew of Desmond, and his purpose, and what his destiny was to be. Desmond was trying to use the reality as a second chance, to correct his mistake and be with Penny, something that Eloise tried to put a stop to, talking to him about course corrections, and paths in life. Once again, we have Desmond stumble across Eloise's path, and once again it would appear that she knows more than everyone else. She immediately recognized Desmond even before he introduced himself, and seemed a little startled to see him. Instead of being upset at Desmond's news about Driveshaft, as everyone who knows her expected her to be, she passed it off as if it was nothing, no doubt trying to placate Desmond and keep him happy. And, once again, she attempted to interfere in Desmond's attempts to be with Penny, forbidding him to look at the guest list, and telling him to stop looking for whatever he's looking for. She told him that he has attained the thing that he wanted more than anything, the approval of Charles Widmore, something that was certainly a driving force in his life in our world. It would appear at first glance that Eloise knows who Desmond is, maybe even what his abilities are, and seems to be focused on making sure he heads down a certain path. Whether this path is meant to assist or divert Desmond in his ultimate goal, we don't know yet. But clearly Eloise once again has all the answers in this other place.

Catastrophic. This word was used twice in the episode, and no doubt intentionally. The first was when Widmore explained to Jin that Desmond is the only person that he knows that survived a catastrophic electromagnetic event. The second was when Daniels was explaining to Desmond what some of his equations meant, and talked about the need to release a huge amount of energy if there was something catastrophic was about to happen. So we have similar events, causing what appears to be similar results. The first time, it seems that only Desmond was affected. The second time, we're not sure. We've seen many people in the other world, including those that were at ground zero when the bomb went off, Jack, Sawyer, Kate, and Miles (we haven't seen Juliet yet, but I figure it's only a matter of time). Are those the only people that matter? What does it mean that we've seen all of these other people (Ben, Locke, Hurley, Jin, Sun, etc.) in the flash sideways world as well? Is what we're seeing now taking place between the Incident and when Jack & co. wake up on the island in 2007? What are the consequences of this flash sideways world existing, or at the very least what are the consequences of people in the flash sideways world having visions of their lives in our world?

The Nemesis. So, we have a better idea of what this flash sideways world is, and how it plays into everything else that we already know in our world. But one big question that was not answered is what does this have to do with the Nemesis? Charles Widmore came to the island to stop the Nemesis from leaving (as far as we know). He believes that if the Nemesis were to leave the island, the lives of everyone he knows would cease to exist. And so he is there to prevent that from happening. To do this, he has brought Desmond with him back to the island, due to Desmond's unique experiences with catastrophic electromagnetic events. And what's the first thing he does with Desmond? He tests out Desmond's electromagnetic properties and sends him to the flash sideways world. So it would appear that the flash sideways world either has something to do with the Nemesis, or has something to do with how he's going to stop the Nemesis. Is that 'home' for the Nemesis? When he talks about getting off the island, going home, is that where he wants to be? Or is Widmore possibly trying to trap him in that other place? Widmore's looking for the other electromagnetic pockets on the island, is he going to attempt to release the energy from one of these pockets with the Nemesis nearby? Is Desmond to be used as some kind of bait knowing that he can survive the event? We got a big piece of the flash sideways puzzle this week, I think the relevance of this world and its relationship with the Nemesis is another one that we'll be getting in the coming weeks.

Let's get to some quick hits, shall we?

-Desmond on the plane in "LA X" had a wedding ring on his finger. The Desmond that we saw in this flash sideways was not married, and it was specifically pointed out that he was not married. In fact, Damon Lindelof was on Twitter last night and specifically re-tweeted someone's question to Damon asking about Desmond's wedding ring. Lostpedia has this marked down as a "blooper/continuity error". Trust me, it is no such thing. Desmond was married when we saw him on the plane. Not married now that he's off the plane. Hmm.

-I thought it a little interesting that the two people to give Desmond some insight into this "other world" when he was in his flash sideways were Charlie and Daniel, both people that died on the island. It doesn't necessarily mean anything, but something to keep in mind.

-I do have to give it up to the writers for consistently remembering the smallest details of this show and referencing them later on down the road. The flash sideways are just chock full of references to episodes past, and this was no exception. From obvious things like Widmore sharing his whiskey with Desmond, to more subtle things like Daniel showing up in a collared shirt and tie (because honestly, what else could you have him wearing?) Gotta love it.

-George Minkowski was the guy that helped Desmond get to the radio room on the freighter so that he could talk to Penny in "The Constant". Now he's also the guy that helped drive Desmond to the stadium so that he could meet Penny. Well done.

-I complained a bit last week about how the show sort of ruined Jin & Sun's "sparkle" or whatever you want to call it back in Season 3, and we never really got it back after that. I will say that Desmond and Penny sort of picked up the reins where they left off, as their relationship moments together are incredibly touching. I absolutely love the scene where they first meet at the monastery, and this scene in the stadium had that exact same feel to it. Really great stuff.

-That being said, what kind of judgment does Penny have not only running around an empty stadium at night, but when a strange man approaches her and knows her name, introduces himself, faints, then asks her out for coffee, she accepts without hesitation? I mean, I get that they're trying to play up the 'love at first sight' angle that Daniel brought up, but come on. Desmond at least deserves some pepper spray to the face there if nothing else.

-I couldn't help but think that the artificial electromagnetic chamber that Widmore had constructed had a similar feel to it as "Jacob's" cabin on the island.

-The flash sideways world kind of reminds me of the Matrix. You've got all these people, living out their lives, oblivious to what's really going on. Then you have people (Desmond, Charlie, Daniel) who discover this other world that exists separate from where they are, and are trying to find out more about it and/or get back to it. And you've also got an "Oracle", someone who has all the answers, knows what's going on, but is very mysterious in how she reveals this information (Eloise).

-Nice to see that Zombie Sayid is still a total bad ass when he wants to be. From his stealth infiltration of Widmore's camp via the water, to seriously coming up out of nowhere and killing a couple of Widmore's men with no problem, he may not feel anything, but he can still kill you in about three seconds if you're not careful.

-I'm still contemplating what Desmond's lackadaisical attitude towards Sayid meant. He seems to know what Charles wants from him, and yet he also had no problem heading off with Sayid when Sayid told him that Widmore and his men were dangerous. Could this be part of Widmore's plan some how? Does he want Desmond to end up with the Nemesis because of his unique abilities? Is that what Charles meant when he told Desmond that he would have to make a sacrifice?

-Isn't Dominic Monaghan the mysterious guy on Flash Forward? Now he's the mysterious guy on LOST too? I suppose it's better than being typecast as a Hobbit.

-Where do all these damn white rabbits keep coming from? I know that they're symbolic references to Alice in Wonderland, but seriously, it's like these things grow on trees. What happened to old fashioned science, with lab rats, like what Faraday used in his research?

Okay, I think that's all I've got for this week. I'm really looking forward to next week (and honestly, I think all the episodes from here on out will be super exciting), and I think we'll get a pretty decent number of surprising guest stars on the cast list if the teaser was any indication. It should be our last character-centric episode if my guess is right, and then...who knows. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next week.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=325
Entertainment - LOST 6.10 Thoughts]]>"Eloise: Well, breaking her heart is, of course, what drives you in a few short years from now to enter that sailing race -- to prove her father wrong -- which brings you to the island where you spend the next 3 years of your life entering numbers into the computer until you are forced to turn that failsafe key. And if you don't do those things, Desmond David Hume, every single one of us is dead."

"Desmond: She loves me. I'm going to spend the rest of my life with her.
Eloise: No, Desmond, you're not"

"Eloise: The universe, unfortunately, has a way of course correcting. That man was supposed to die. That was his path just as it's your path to go to the island. You don't do it because you choose to, Desmond. You do it because you're supposed to."

"Eloise: You may not like your path, Desmond, but pushing that button is the only truly great thing that you will ever do."

"Eloise: I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Desmond, but the Island isn't done with you yet."

Just when he thinks he's out, they pull him back in. Desmond, you remember your good friend 'The Island', don't you? Don't act all surprised, we all knew you were coming back eventually. Eloise Hawking told us as much in the Lamp Post last season before Ben shot you. It's always been your destiny to go to the island, your "path". You thought it was all over, and yet here you are, once again.

While we only got a brief glimpse, I consider the return of Mr. Hume to be quite significant. Desmond isn't the most frequently used character, perhaps to his benefit as it keeps him very intriguing and interesting, but he's been shown to be one of the more important characters on the show, with key episodes frequently revolving around him (Catch-22, Flashes Before Your Eyes, The Variable, Live Together Die Alone). There's something unique and special about him, something that we don't fully understand, but have seen some examples of. He was in the hatch when it imploded, basically at ground zero when he released the electromagnetic energy that was built up under the Swan station. This seemed to affect his reality in terms of space and time. Immediately following the implosion, he was knocked unconscious and woke up in 1996. He was replaying his life in 1996, everything was the same, only he had all his memories through 2004. But when he attempted to make different choices in his deja vu, he was confronted by Eloise Hawking, talking about his destiny and fate to ultimately end up on the island, apart from Penny. It was more than just a deja vu, a dream, as this other reality that Desmond was in ended with him being hit in the face with a cricket bat, only to wake up back on the island, wincing in pain from the afore mentioned hit to the face.

But there was more than that. Following the hatch implosion, Desmond started seeing flashes, visions of the future, or at least what he thought was the future. He saved Charlie's life several times because of his visions, but also seemed to be a little misguided by his visions as well. He thought Penny had parachuted in from the helicopter, when it was actually Naomi. He told Charlie that he saw a vision of Claire leaving the island in a helicopter (although it's possible that this could still happen). But the point is that he had these visions of the future, as a result of the incident at the hatch. He also started jumping between 2004 and 1996 (The same year that Desmond originally had his "deja vu") when he left the island on the helicopter, somehow affected by the island's temporal anomalies. Finally, we have Desmond's experience with Daniel Faraday in 2001 or 2002. When the island was flashing through time, Daniel spoke to Desmond outside the Swan hatch. Then, in 2007, Desmond awoke, apparently remembering what Faraday had told him, although it was as if the memory was brand new to him.

All of these things that we've seen from Desmond are largely mysterious and unexplained. We have bits of information here and there, obviously Desmond turning the key in the hatch had something to do with all of this, and Daniel Faraday seemed to have some kind of understanding of Desmond's unique capabilities, but overall we've been kept largely in the dark. The only thing we really seem to know is that Desmond's fate lies on the island, and sadly, does not involve Penny. How he fits into the war on the island, we don't know, but considering Charles Widmore kidnapped him and took him under lock and key back to the island to prevent the Nemesis from getting off the island, I'd say he'll be playing an integral role in the rest of series.

Speaking of Charles Widmore, we're getting a little bit more as each week goes by about his intentions on this island. He certainly seems to be anti-Nemesis, with a good understanding of what the Nemesis is and the importance of him staying on that island. To quote the Nemesis, "A wise man once said that war is coming to this island. I think it just got here." Clearly the two are at odds. One of the big questions in all of this is whether or not Widmore is also a member of Team Jacob, or if he's there under his own accord. With Richard leading everyone to Hydra Island, it's inevitable that the two groups will meet up sooner rather than later. Will they align forces, or does Widmore have his own plans? One thing to keep in mind from this week's episode is when Zoe was talking to Jin. She was looking at Dharma maps that identified the pockets of electromagnetism on the island. The same type of electromagnetic energy that affected Desmond when he turned the key at the Swan. Desmond, whom Charles Widmore believes is key to stopping the Nemesis. Could Widmore be looking to recreate what happened to Desmond? Is he trying to harness this energy to defeat the Nemesis? Is he just really conscious of his carbon footprint and is looking for green alternative energy sources to power his sonic fence? Let's just remember, Widmore says he is there to stop the Nemesis, and brought with him a geophysicist and a map to pockets of electromagnetic energy on the island.

Let's get to some quick hits, shall we?

-I'm not gonna lie, I was a little worried about this being a Sun & Jin episode. They've gone from being possibly my favorite characters during the first few seasons to relatively useless the past couple seasons since they've been separated the whole time. Sun is emotionless, and really has no motivation outside of "have you seen my husband?" Jin has been slightly more interesting, just because he's actually had things to do, being rescued by Rousseau's group, working in the Dharma Initiative. But it's pretty clear that without the touching moments, the emotional struggles and successes the two have had while on the island, they're just not that much fun to watch. So I was very relieved to find out that Sun & Jin were still together in the flash sideways, albeit not married. We actually got to see a little bit of that spark between the two that has been missing for three seasons, even if it was brief. That openness that you get to see when they are alone with each other, the little jokes they make, the affection they have for each other, it's something you're only going to get in those kind of situations. You won't see it from them in a one-on-one setting, because they are naturally more reserved when dealing with other people. Of course, now we have to go back into waiting to see it again, with Sun being shot in the flash sideways, and both still being separated on the island (although with Jin in Widmore's camp perhaps their reunification is getting closer. One can hope).

-I'm not sure how I feel about this Aphasia storyline with Sun, but LOST is pretty good about avoiding stupid storylines, so I'll go along with it for now. I think my automatic "eye roll" reaction is due to the fact that on 24, one of its biggest weaknesses is stupid side storylines (I won't give any spoilers, but all I'll say is: mountain lion), so any time I see something that might be dumb I get a little scared.

-Anyone like the role reversal with Jin being the bilingual one and Sun only able to speak Korean?

-More Martin Keamy please. Seriously, this guy is awesome, and it makes me sad that this may be his last appearance on the show. He was awesome as a mercenary, he's awesome as a criminal underling for Mr. Paik. I can't get enough of him.

-I was trying to figure out what was bothering me about Mikhail when I saw him, and it wasn't until today that I figured it out. He has both eyes! Well, at least he did until Jin shot him in the head. He seems to be much more at peace than he ever was on the island.

-Anyone else notice Sun looking a little confused when she checked herself in the mirror before letting Keamy in? Just add her to the list of people to look at themselves in the mirror with a confused look in the flash sideways world.

-Speaking of the flash sideways, I have to think it's either coming to an end, or at least to a point sooner rather than later. Let's look at our main characters: Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Locke, Hurley, Jin & Sun, Sayid, Claire, Ben. I don't know that Frank or Ilana are relevant enough to bother with outside of a random appearance like Rose or Arzt. So we've had flash sideways for all of these characters except for Hurley, who we only briefly saw in Locke's flash sideways, and the premiere. Other than that, I don't know who else they can focus on, which means we may start seeing some purpose behind these flash sideways, or it just may mean we'll keep seeing them, only they won't focus on any one person, and instead continue to intertwine everyone's lives (Kate being arrested by Sawyer, Sun being shot and presumably being taken to Jack's hospital, etc.). I'm hoping for the former. The one question mark here is Desmond. Perhaps he will get a flash sideways episode too, but with Desmond's unique characteristics, I'm not so sure. His appearance on the season premiere, and his conversation with Jack, was all very mysterious. He just sort of seemed to appear, and disappear into thin air. No one around Jack saw him sit down, and he inexplicably got up and left without being seen. I'm still not totally sold on him being a part of this sideways world, or at least not to the extent that everyone else is. Maybe he's in the sideways world, but has his memories from his own world, and it's his job to bring everyone back. I don't know, but either way I expect in the next two or three weeks to know more about what this flash sideways world is, and what it has to do with the rest of the story.

-Did you hear what Locke said to Claire? There's still a possibility that Claire will kill Kate! Yay!

-I'm not sure if the writers were trying to be funny, but Desmond's confused look as he lay on the dock staring into the water at Sayid calmly sitting there staring back at Desmond was hilarious.

-Thought we learned an interesting bit about the Nemesis. He says that the names that are not crossed off have to leave together for him to get off the island. Whether that's actually the case or he just needs them dead remains to be seen, but either way it's clear that he's trying to get all of the remaining candidates to join him. But that's the key word: join. He can't force anyone to go with him, as we saw with Sun. He tried to talk Sun into coming with, but when she refused and ran away, the Nemesis couldn't actually do anything about it. He jogged behind her, when it was pretty clear he could have caught her if he wanted, and disappeared when she ran into the tree (real smart move Sun, by the way). So he has to get the candidates to willingly join him. Sayid is infected and seems to be cool with doing whatever the Nemesis wants. Sawyer's just trying to get off the island, but he has no real allegiance to the Nemesis. Kate's too dumb to know any better and is just along for the ride. And Jin didn't want to be there, and is now with Charles Widmore, which the Nemesis seems none too happy about. The remaining three are a little bit tougher, because Sun doesn't trust the Nemesis (and she only wants to find Jin, so now that Jin is gone it really ruins any leverage he might have had), and Jack and Hurley are clearly in the pro-Jacob camp and aren't going to have anything to do with the Nemesis.

-Really liked the scene with Jin looking at photos of Ji Yeon (although is it just me or did that look like kind of a crappy digital camera for a wealthy woman to own in 2007). I did think it was interesting though that Ji Yeon was brought up in the conversation for no real reason (aside from perhaps Widmore playing mind games and making Jin more sympathetic to his cause). Kind of struck me as odd the same way that the Nemesis brought up Aaron to Kate. I just can't shake this nagging feeling that they're being brought up for a reason, and we're going to see them again. I don't know.

-Heard this on a podcast and thought it was a great point; someone needs to point out to Sun that paper is in limited supply on the island and she should probably write a little smaller so that she's not taking up a whole page with the word "yes".

That's all for this week. Next week's episode looks very interesting, but it also looks like it may be a bit of a downer (not that ABC's teaser promos ever mean anything). Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next week.

Richard Alpert. Our Richard backstory, in all its glory. Finally, we get our episode that we've been waiting for since about Season 3. And the writers gave us exactly what we wanted. Who is Richard? How did he get on the island? What is his purpose? They did it the right way, too, making the entire episode about his story, and not dealing with any other plot points on the island. So what did we learn? For starters, Richard is from the Canary Islands, a Spanish colony off the coast of Africa. He accidentally killed a doctor while trying to save his wife's life, and was arrested for his crime, but spared from hanging when he was purchased by an officer of the Black Rock to become a slave. The Black Rock crashed on the island, after a tidal wave carried it inland. The Nemesis killed the surviving crew members, except for Richard. In Richard, the Nemesis saw something that he could use, a way to manipulate him into killing Jacob. He convinced Richard that he was dead, that he was in hell, by having Isabella appear to him, and tell him that the devil was after them. He then appeared to Richard in his human form, further convincing Richard that he was in hell, that the devil was out there, and that Richard needed to kill him. To get Richard to go along with this, he promised that he would see Isabella, only after the devil was killed.

The conflict in Richard's heart makes a lot more sense now that we have this backstory. Ultimately, he is a pawn in the battle between Jacob and the Nemesis. The Nemesis is trying to convince him of one possible truth, and Jacob another. While we, the audience, are led to believe that it's Jacob that is telling the truth, at the end of the day we don't know for sure, and Richard probably doesn't either. He certainly doesn't know enough to have an everlasting faith in what Jacob wants. Without Jacob, Richard is a lost soul, with no one to listen to or follow. But he knows that he can always follow the Nemesis, that is a door that has never closed.

But then there's Isabella. Perhaps the one person that Richard will listen to. How she was able to appear to Hurley, I don't know. But perhaps Jacob had something to do with it. And now, Richard has a purpose. He knows what he's supposed to do. He's not supposed to follow the Nemesis, he's supposed to stop him. Stop him from ever leaving. Keep him bottled up.

The Island.

Jacob: My name is Jacob. I'm the one who brought your ship to the island.

Richard: You brought it here? Why?

J: Think of this wine as what you keep calling hell. There's many other names for it too. Malevolence. Evil. Darkness. And here it is, swirling around in the bottle, unable to get out. Because if it did, it would spread. The cork, is this island. And it's the only thing keeping the darkness, where it belongs. That man who sent you to kill me believes that everyone is corruptible because it's in their very nature to sin. I bring people here to prove him wrong. And when they get here, their past doesn't matter.

R: Before you brought my ship, there were others?

J: Yes. Many.

R: What happened to them?

J: They're all dead.

R: If you brought them here, why didn't you help them?

J: Because I wanted them to help themselves. To know the difference between right and wrong without me having to tell them. It's all meaningless if I have to force them to do anything. Why should I have to step in?

R: If you don't, he will.

J: Do you want a job?

R: A job? Doing what?

J: Well, if I don't want to step in, maybe you can do it for me. You can be my representative, an intermediary between me and the people I bring to the island.

That's a lot to digest right there. The island is a prison, essentially. It is what keeps the Nemesis, the evil from spreading to the rest of the world. Jacob is keeping the Nemesis on the island. But there's more to the island than that. With Jacob and Nemesis, it's also about the nature of man. Is man naturally good, or naturally evil. People are brought to the island so that Jacob can prove his case, while the Nemesis tries to prove his. This means death for those that come to the island (at least so far it has), but is their death a sacrifice for a greater cause? Or is this just an intellectual discussion between two deities, stuck with each other on an island for an eternity?

I thought a cork was an interesting metaphor for the island. A cork is able to float when placed in the water. With the cork in place, keeping the evil bottled up, everything on the island seems fine. But perhaps, in another reality, the evil has escaped, and that has somehow caused the cork to sink to the bottom of the ocean.

Jacob. I heard a very appropriate label given to Jacob; he's not a good person, but he's on the side of good. I think that sums him up perfectly. Jacob is not infallible, he's not necessarily someone I would quantify as being a good guy. He brings people to the island against their will, where they almost always end up dead. Is that something a good person would do? Whether you like him or not, he's a manipulator, as evidenced by his actions towards Richard, or really anyone else he's brought to the island. Brought. Not invited. That is not how Jacob works. He may tell you that you always have a choice, but not when it involves coming to the island. And yet, he believes in the goodness of mankind.

So what do you do with that? Is that someone you root for? He may be a better person than the Nemesis, but does that make him a good guy? I can't help but struggle with this idea. I don't think I can get behind the idea of the good guy being the person that takes people away from their lives so that they can be on the island to play out this idea that man is either good or evil knowing that death is the most likely result. And yet, I certainly can't get behind the ideas of the Nemesis, who kills for no reason, manipulates, and tries to corrupt, all for his own selfish goal of escaping the island.

I think there has to be more to it than that. Everyone that has died on the island, it has to have been for something. Right now, it feels like they died for nothing. Who is Jacob? Who is the Nemesis? How did they come to be on the island? I don't think we can get the full picture of either one's intentions until we have the answers to these questions.

The Candidates. We have a little more backstory on the candidates, and where we stand with them. We saw Jacob go to Ilana, as we initially saw in "The Incident", only this time we saw him explain her purpose. To protect the remaining candidates. He clearly gave her explicit instructions and information regarding the layout and inner workings of the island. He also gave her a list of people to protect, only in somewhat amusing fashion, only gave her the last names, which leads to a bit of confusion when two people with the same last name are on the island. We also know that whomever is a candidate, may need to watch their back, or else they may end up dead.

Nemesis: Because I want to leave. Just let me leave, Jacob.

Jacob: As long as I'm alive you're not going anywhere.

N: Well then, now you know why I want to kill you. And I will kill you Jacob.

J: Even if you do, someone else will take my place.

N: Well, then I'll kill them too.

I do have to wonder if it's as simple as that. The Nemesis killing candidates. The Nemesis killing the next Jacob. We know he wants to leave the island, but there are certainly restrictions in place, otherwise he would have just killed everyone by now and left. I don't think he can kill the candidates, but he certainly wants them dead before one of them becomes the next Jacob, because we certainly know he can't kill Jacob. So he has to continue to manipulate, and make promises, to anyone that will listen, so that he can get others to do his dirty work, and help him ultimately escape.

Flash Sideways. Switching gears a bit, I talked a few weeks ago about the flash sideways, and what they might mean regarding the big picture. I'd like to share another interesting theory that was shared with me by Julius Goat via The Onion's A.V. Club.

Let's go back to Season 3. The hatch has imploded. The electromagnetic energy that was being controlled, was seemingly released. At the center of this release was Desmond Hume. After the implosion, Desmond had some kind of a deja vu, from several years ago, when he was still in England, and still with Penny. While he remembered his time on the island, he was also just happy to get on with his life with Penny, and make the right decisions this time. Every so often, certain moments would seemingly jog his memory to events on the island (the microwave reading 1:08, seeing Charlie in the streets, the race around the world, etc.). Eventually, he ran into Ms. Hawking, who explained to him what was going on, how he was destined to end up on the island, how he was destined to push the button, and there was nothing he could do to change it. His deja vu ended when a scene he remembered in the bar played out, only he changed the end of it by warning the bartender to duck at the last second to avoid being hit with a cricket bat, Desmond getting hit in the process instead. When he awoke, he was back in the jungle on the island, only his head still hurt from the cricket bat.

You can't help but notice the similarities between Desmond's deja vu and what we've seen in the flash sideways. It's the same world, only with different decisions made. We've seen multiple instances of people seemingly having their memory jogged at moments that might make them think of their other world on the island. What if someone comes along as Eloise Hawking did, or something happens, to make them remember what really happened. What if they all realize that they have to go back to actual reality, and wake up back on the island, as Desmond did? And what if they already did? I theorized before that these flash sideways might be the epilogue to the story. What if it's actually in the past? This could all take place immediately after the Incident, and after the series of flash sideways are complete, we cut to Jack, Kate, and everyone waking up on the island, in 2007, realizing the Incident didn't work. Desmond was in the hatch when he had his deja vu. Everyone was at the site of the hatch when the Incident happened. It certainly seems plausible to me that these two events caused similar reactions.

Very intriguing theory that I liked a lot when I read it.

Let's get to some quick hits:

-I thought Richard killing the doctor was very reminiscent of Desmond killing Kelvin Inman. An accidental struggle leads to a fatal blow to the back of the head. And just as Desmond was forced to spend his remaining days in the hatch by himself, Richard was punished, set aboard a slave ship, and ultimately taken to the island, alone.

-So, the Nemesis gives Richard "the" dagger, and gives Richard the exact same instructions to kill Jacob that Dogen gave Sayid to kill the Nemesis. Hmm.

-This was a significantly more aggressive Jacob than what we've seen in past episodes. I find it interesting that he fought Richard when he tried to kill him, but let Ben stab him.

-Speaking of Ben, it makes a lot more sense to me why he let Ben kill him. We've seen that Jacob is all about letting people make choices, on their own. Now, we know that he doesn't want to interfere in what people do. He doesn't want to tell people what the right thing is to do. Which is why when Ben went to kill him, he told Ben that he had a choice. It's why Miles told Ben that his last thoughts were that he hoped he was wrong about Ben. He doesn't want to interfere, even if it means his death. Perhaps he was also more accepting of his death knowing that Ilana and the remaining candidates were there on the island.

-I do hope we get to find out Ilana's backstory, how she came to know Jacob, why she was bandaged in that hospital, why she considers Jacob to be a father figure.

-How can you not love Hurley's new role on this show? As I was discussing with a friend of mine, Hurley's probably the one genuinely good guy on the show that everyone likes, and is rooting for. So to have him become one of the more integral people on the island? Awesome.

-Not that it needs to be said, but great, touching backstory for Richard. After seeing so little from Richard in the way of emotion, or character motivation, Nestor Carbonell killed it with his performance. His path leading up to his arrival on the island was tragic, and you had to feel for him when he was sitting there all alone on the ship, trying to wriggle a plank loose to get to the nail to try and get out of his chains. The end of the episode, with his wife speaking to him, very emotional. I also really liked the decision to not actually have Hurley deliver all of her lines, and instead make it appear as if they were talking to each other.

-"Good to see you out of those chains." *thumbs up*

-Hurley shunning Jack was greatness. Another added benefit to Hurley's new role, he gets to put Jack in his place.

-Poor Frank has been relegated to Captain Obvious duty. Two weeks ago, it was "Hey, I was supposed to fly Oceanic 815 ya know. Good thing I didn't, my life would have been so different" (Insert comment about fate and destiny since you're on the island anyways here). This week, we have Ben saying he's known Richard since he was twelve, followed by Frank chiming in with "You mean you've known him since you were both kids?" (Insert comment about Richard's lack of aging even though we all already know he doesn't age here). Can someone please get this man up to speed?

Alright, that's all I've got. Great episode, one that has been highly anticipated for years and still managed to deliver. We were given some big pieces to the puzzle without too many new questions to handle for a change. It should be interesting to see if next week has a bit of a letdown feel to it, as is often the case after big episodes, like season premieres. Thanks for reading, see you next week.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=323
Entertainment - LOST 6.8 Thoughts]]>Recon (short for Reconnaissance) n. - An inspection or exploration of an area, especially one made to gather military information.

Sure, this is what the Nemesis meant when he told Sawyer to go over to Hydra Island and get the scoop on what's going on, but as the astute Damon Lindelof pointed out on Twitter last night:

@DamonLindelof: Recon. Verb. To con again.

C'mon, this is a Sawyer episode. You don't send the best liar you know (Ben was pretty offended by that, by the way) to go scope out the scene and gather information. If that's what you need, go send Sayid. If you're going to send Sawyer, expect lies, sarcasm, more lies, and a guy who inexplicably has time for a haircut (Melissa pointed this out to me last night, have we just not seen Sawyer for so long we forgot what he looked like, or is his hair not shorter since we last saw him in the cave?). None of this reconnaissance crap. Sawyer's a con man the same way Sayid's a killer. There's no changing that.

I'm glad that Sawyer has finished his moping (Don't get me wrong, I thought Sawyer and Juliet were great together, but I like my Sawyer to be looking out for his own best interests, screwing over those we don't like, and taking charge and looking out for his friends), because this was a nice return to form for Sawyer. He has no loyalties to anyone (again, except to his friends), he's willing to do whatever it takes to get everyone off the island, but at the same time he's very aware of the dangerous people around him (namely the Nemesis and Widmore), so he's not operating with reckless abandon. One downside to this idea of trying to play both sides, is when you get found out, you tend to have a lot of people pissed off at you, and it's not exactly good for your health. Sawyer's generally pretty good at not getting in over his head, but messing with the Nemesis and Widmore is definitely playing with fire.

Speaking of Charles Widmore, let's discuss him for a little bit. I can't remember if I actually mentioned this last week or just talked about it with some of my friends (browsing last week's entry it looks like I did not mention it), but one of the first things I thought about when I saw Widmore was what side is he on? Everyone's got a side, you're either with Jacob, or your with the Nemesis. Some people may not care that much, but at the end of the day, you have two camps, the people that believe in Jacob (Ilana, Richard, Jack, Hurley), and the people that may not believe/care but are with that group anyways (Frank, Sun, Miles, Ben?). Then you have the people that are siding with the Nemesis (Claire, Sayid, the Others), and the people that maybe don't care as much, but are with that group anyways (Sawyer, Kate, Jin). Hope I didn't forget anyone. Well, now we have Charles Widmore and his band of merry men. My initial thought last week was that Widmore was going to be siding with Jacob. I had a couple reasons for thinking this:

-First, just from a logistical standpoint, the Nemesis has the upper hand right now. He killed everyone in the Temple, has any Others that weren't killed in the Temple with him, since he promised to get them off the island, they are almost his followers. He also has a pretty strong resistance to dying, as was evidenced a couple weeks ago by Sayid's failed stabbing. Oh, and he's also the smoke monster. Meanwhile, Jacob's camp has a group of people with some guns (that don't work against the Nemesis, by the way), and a dead Jacob that only Hurley can talk to. Seems pretty bleak. While Charles Widmore is just a regular person, he's a powerful person, and someone with a vast knowledge of the island (possibly even more vast than Richard?). Having him on Jacob's side would be some nice leverage for that camp.

-One of the underlying themes of this show (well, the underlying theme) is good vs. evil. And that even takes place on an individual level. We've seen everyone have their own internal struggle with good vs. evil. No one character is fully good, and no one character is fully evil. Look at the people that appeared to have nothing redeeming about them when we first met them: Sawyer, Ana Lucia, Ben, even the Nemesis. Look at how we view Sawyer now. Once we learned more about him, we saw what a truly conflicted character he was. Same for Ana Lucia and Ben. Even the Nemesis, the more we learn about him this season, he's not an evil being just for the sake of being evil. There are two sides to that coin, just like everyone else. But what about Charles Widmore? Have we ever seen anything redeeming about him? He has always been a mean-spirited, angry, dangerous man, nothing else. I didn't believe that could last. Just like with anyone else on this show, there has to be another side to this man. So what better way to see his "good" side, than to have him show up to the island with the intent to fight for Jacob, and go against the Nemesis?

It certainly would appear that that's where we're headed, fortunately. We don't know for sure, but Widmore is clearly interested in the Nemesis, and given the supersonic fence he's setting up around his perimeter, I'm going to go out on a limb and assume he's not planning on making friends with it. The interesting thing to all of this was his relative indifference to the people on the beach. It could just be that he has his own plans and doesn't much care what anyone else on the island is doing. But I am a little surprised that he has no interest in recruiting Ilana to further his cause, as it wouldn't surprise me if he knew who she was and what her purpose is. That was the only thing that I thought really went against my initial thoughts.

Now, one other Widmore-related idea that I wanted to toss out there. I talked about getting the full spectrum of a character, being able to see the good and the bad, how we haven't seen that from Widmore yet. Well, what if we actually had seen it from Widmore already, but just didn't know it? I heard this suggestion from a podcast, and thought it would be good to expand upon.

Desmond. Widmore didn't want Desmond to be with Penny, and didn't seem to think much of Desmond period. He called Desmond a coward. But what if this was all done on purpose? What if he knew who Desmond was, and what he was supposed to do? What if Desmond's entering Widmore's race around the world just to spite Widmore was what Charles wanted to happen? Is it any different than Eloise raising Daniel so that he would eventually go to the island? Now granted, it's not exactly the same situation, since Desmond never went back to the 1970s, but the idea of influencing others so that they end up on the island is not exactly unique (see: Jacob). If we look at it that way, then Charles behavior is still a bit cruel, but at least we have a purpose behind it. If he was doing it for the good of the island, suddenly it doesn't look so reprehensible, does it?

Ben. The conflict between Ben and Widmore was always interesting, because Ben was a "bad" guy, Charles was a "bad" guy, and yet they both didn't like each other. But let's look at Widmore's transgressions against Ben, most notably the freighter. The people on the freighter were there to get Benjamin Linus. Not to kill him, but to take him off the island. Now let's think about the most significant things that have happened so far to get the Nemesis to where he is right now. One was Locke's body coming back to the island so that the Nemesis could take its form, the other was Jacob dying. Well, who killed Locke? Who killed Jacob? What if Widmore had been able to take Ben off the island? Would those things have still played out? Maybe. But maybe not. What if Widmore was just acting in the best interest of Jacob and the island when he sent that freighter? It makes you think about him in a different light, doesn't it?

There are certainly arguments against this idea, the fact that Keamy killed Alex, the fact that he sent Keamy at all (although if he's trying to apprehend Ben, sending someone like Keamy's probably not a bad idea), the fact that when Locke moved the island, Widmore was there to get him, and encouraged him to go back to the island (although to be fair Widmore did say that he wanted Locke to stay alive). But I do think it's possible that perhaps Widmore has already shown us that he might not be quite the bad guy we make him out to be.

I have a random topic I wanted to discuss before I get into my quick hits. A friend of mine is currently watching the show for the first time (he's making good progress too, I think he's through the first 2 seasons in the last three weeks), and that, combined with me going through some old episodes, has caused me to think a lot about the path the show has taken, and what was planned, and what wasn't. I know Damon and Carlton like to tell us repeatedly that we would know by the end that they had this planned out from the beginning. While I think there is a certain degree of truth to that, I don't think it's quite as cut and dry as all of that.

Ultimately, I think this is a show about good and evil. And to the writers' credit, I think that's something that has been apparent since the beginning. The discussion around light and dark, good and evil, white and black, has always been around. One of the earliest episodes in the series contains the infamous backgammon conversation between Locke and Walt. When we first saw Adam & Eve, they had, in a bag by their bodies, a black stone and a white stone. I do think, from that perspective, yes, the writers have stayed true to their initial idea for the show. But I don't really think it goes much past that. When the pilot was created, I believe JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof had this idea, about survivors of a plane crash, on a mysterious island with unexplained events occurring on it. And there's the premise for the show. They didn't have this long and twisted story about what that all meant. But when they got the green light to expand further, this idea of good and evil was created, and some of the island's mysteries were fleshed out (the Others, the black smoke, the Black Rock, Rousseau, etc.). But at the same time, the show was looked at as a prime time broadcast drama, something that was there to captivate audiences on a weekly basis. I talked about this a bit in my Season 3 recaps, but it's very clear in Season 2 and the first part of Season 3, that the show didn't quite have the whole plan in place quite yet. They didn't know how long the show was going to last, they didn't know exactly what ABC wanted to do with it, so they couldn't quite get all the pieces in place yet.

With the decision made during Season 3 to make the show six seasons, I think then we really started to see the writers operate with the full picture in mind. Maybe the writers didn't know the full picture, but at the very least Damon and Carlton did. The writers have done a fantastic job of trying to connect things from the first two seasons that may not have had meaning at the time, and making it so that they're now very significant. For example, in Season 2, when the Others were raiding the tail section, Ana Lucia killed one of them, and found and old US Army knife. She remarked to Goodwin that they hadn't even made one those knives in at least 20 years. An inconspicuous comment at the time, meant to be more mysterious than anything. And yet, three seasons later, we see the island moving through time, and where do we end up? In the 1950s, when a group of US Army soldiers had arrived to the island to do some hydrogen bomb testing. Or Dr. Chang, who we first see in the orientation film in the hatch. Fast forward to Season 5, and we're now in 1977, and who's the head honcho of the Dharma Initiative at the time? Dr. Chang, of course. Do I think that any of this was planned when Season 2 was written? Nope. Hell, Michael Emerson was originally hired on to do a 3-episode guest spot. Look at him now. But the show is written so well, that it all flows fairly seamlessly. There are certain awkward moments, like the fact that the Others at first were a group of people that seemingly lived out in the wilderness, walked around barefoot, wore dirty clothing, and stayed in huts. They tried to explain that one away when Kate found "disguises" in lockers in the medical station, implying it was all to fool the Oceanic survivors, but really I just don't think they knew what they wanted to do with the Others yet, and when they came up with the idea of the Dharma barracks, and the Others being a more enlightened and civil people, they had to backtrack a bit.

See, told you it was random. But I figured since I had you all so captivated I could get away with it. Let's get on to some quick hits:

-One of the inadvertent side effects to the island's healing properties is that it really helps the writers out. Now when people get these serious injuries, their recovery time is much greater. Remember when Naomi's lung was punctured when she crash landed? Not a problem. With Jin getting his leg stuck in that bear trap, it was looking pretty bad. But, because of the island, I have a feeling after a couple more days he should be right as rain. I mean, honestly it works out for everyone because now we don't have to sit there and watch Jin hobble around with a crutch for the rest of the season.

-I wonder if Claire took her squirrel baby with her. Does she have a stroller that the Nemesis maybe made for her so that she can take it for walks in the jungle?

-Creepy Sayid is creepy. I love Kate's look of helplessness as she sits around her "friends", and has Claire trying to kill her while Sayid just sort of sits there with little interest in what's going on. Way to pick the wrong group, Kate.

-Who knew they had portable sonic fences? I may have to go to IKEA and see if I can find one there to set up around my place. So easy to install, too.

-Real interesting stuff from the Nemesis when talking to Kate. He talked about his mother, talked about how she was 'crazy', but then compared her to 'crazy' Claire. So does that mean his mother was on the island at one point in time? Does that mean she was infected as well? And why bring up Aaron? Aaron has mostly been used as a prop this season as character motivation for Claire, so the fact that the Nemesis brought him up in a conversation with Kate was...surprising. Perhaps we're not yet done with him.

-Speaking of Aaron, my friend Joanne sent an interesting link on the biblical character of Aaron (This show has the occasional religious undertone, in case you haven't noticed). Aaron was probably most famous for making the golden calf while his brother Moses received the ten commandments from God. Something to think about, especially if we're going to be seeing Aaron again this season.

-Any thoughts on what (or who) is in the locked room in the sub? I'm still waiting for Desmond/Eloise/Penny to show up, and I don't know that they would be coming back to the island willingly, so...

-So, the Nemesis killed the remaining plane survivors (Who I think have doubled in number, I feel like there were about 25 people on the plane when it took off), and he killed everyone else in the Temple. I'm sensing a recurring theme here, as in people on the island need to die for the Nemesis to accomplish his goal.

-We have an outrigger, and we have an aggressive group of people with guns. Now all we need is for the two to mix, find their way over to the direction of the beach, and we can finally answer the question of who was shooting at Juliet & co. in the other outrigger during the time flash last season. And more importantly, who Juliet actually shot. I think we're getting close to this one.

-Jack doesn't like what he sees in the mirrors in the light house, so he breaks them. Detective Ford doesn't like what he sees in the mirror, so he breaks it. That's a whole lotta bad karma going around, guys.

-So, how sweet is Ford's job? Go undercover, have sex with hot married woman, then arrest her. Rinse and repeat.

-It doesn't matter what universe or timeline we're in, Sawyer always knows how to put the moves on the ladies. That line about the whip was gold. (Speaking of which, Charlotte cleans up nice when she's not bleeding her brains out and is close to death)

-Was I the only one that thought Sawyer was taking the sun flower to Miles to apologize?

I think that's all I've got for this week. I'm giddy with anticipation of next week's episode, although ABC's promo for it made me feel like I was watching one of those Dos Equis commercials.

He's the most mysterious person on the island.

"You want to know a secret, something I've known a long time? All this, it's not what you think it is."

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Entertainment - LOST 6.7 Thoughts]]>As my buddy Julius Goat alluded to last week, the show is a bit directionless at this point. It reminded me of a similar situation that we faced last season. As the viewer, we just don't know where the story is headed. And not in a good way, like there's this underlying suspense of "Ooh, what's going to happen next?" The show is treading water in the sense that, while we continue to progress our story, and learn more information, the viewers have absolutely no idea what the big picture is in all of this, how things are going to end up, and therefore, we watch these episodes each week, and while they might be interesting, we don't know what they all mean. In Season 5 last year, there was this focus towards getting back to the island. The Oceanic Six, trying to get back, save their friends, etc. We didn't know what the people still on the island were doing in 1977 and the other time flashes, exactly, but the concept itself was interesting enough, and we were getting enough new information about the island, that it didn't really matter. But, once everyone made it back to the island, we sort of got stuck for a bit. Everyone was back on the island, so...now what? And we ended up with a handful of episodes that felt a little directionless, because we didn't know what the big picture was. I'm sure if I went back and rewatched those episodes, I wouldn't have that same feeling, because I know now where the story was ultimately heading (The Incident), but watching through it the first time, it's not clear at all.

Which is kind of where we're at now. We know that Jacob has some sort of plan, we've seen him take steps to carry it out. We know that the Nemesis has some sort of plan, we've seen him take steps to carry it out. We know that Ilana has some sort of direction as to what she's supposed to be doing (protecting the Candidates). But we don't know why any of them are doing any of this, and what it will ultimately lead to. And that's what gets a little frustrating; when you're being shown all of this, and you know it all means something, but you have no idea what that might be.

But, I got the feeling by the end of last night's episode that things were changing in that regard. Last week, a chapter of the show seemed to be coming to a close. We saw the Nemesis come to power, recruit some followers, and take over the Temple. Watching him march off into the jungle with his posse behind him, it had a certain air of finality to it, as if to say "Okay, that was our story of the Nemesis against the Others, and our story of the Temple. Now, that's done, and we'll move onto our next story." I thought that chapter in the show's history was interesting, but again, left me with little more than what I had at the beginning as far as direction for this season. This week had a different feel to it, a starting over of sorts, which I thought was displayed nicely in the context of the episode, with Ilana's crew making camp at the beach, Ben being "allowed" to join their group, the rebuilding of the beach camp, if you will, and even the reunion with Jack and Hurley. Most importantly, however, we have Charles Widmore. Someone who is very knowledgeable about the island, has a great interest in the island, and also someone who knows about and has talked about the "war" that's coming (or perhaps has already started). While we don't yet know Widmore's reason for being there, it's safe to assume that it's more than him just wanting to return to the island. He's got a purpose, and I believe it has something to do with this elusive big picture that we're desperately trying to understand.

Onto some quick hits:

-As has been the case every week this season, I love all of the throwbacks to old seasons. Being re-introduced to the beach camp, Miles' sarcastic response to Ilana wanting to start a fire bearing some resemblance to Frogurt freaking out over a similar request last season after the island moved, a mention of Nikki & Paolo, all the Arzt you could ever want, and of course the light-hearted music playing at the end of the episode while everyone works together, and even a mini-reunion with hugs all around when Jack and Hurley return with Richard. I can't get enough of it, good stuff.

-Speaking of Arzt, I was very clearly reminded of why I enjoyed him blowing up in Season 1.

-Thought the flash-sideways was really well done, the story of Ben's redemption when it comes to Alex was touching. In Season 4 Ben chose what he believed to be the greater good over Alex, and in his flash-sideways he was able to choose Alex over the greater good. I guess the only thing that irked me about that is that he could have just re-instituted his blackmail threat after the letter of recommendation was written, but that's not really a very honorable thing to do, so maybe that's not something the off-island Ben Linus would do.

-Great scene with Ben and Ilana. You don't get to see Ben being truly honest very often, but when he is, it's always very riveting to watch. Now, I didn't really think Ben was going to die in this episode, the prolonged grave digging, the promise by Ilana to kill him, etc., these are all things that usually mean someone's not going to die. But, I'm not gonna lie, when Ben was racing through the jungle to find that rifle, I was a tad worried at how it was all going to end up. I was a little tensed up there, just waiting for that whole scene to end to ensure they would both walk out of the confrontation alive.

-Jack's scene with Richard made me think of the Matrix. When Neo stays to fight Agent Smith, Morpheus proclaims "He's beginning to believe". That's all I could think of when Jack was more than willing to light a piece of dynamite and sit down and have a frank conversation with Richard. Jack is becoming the Man of Faith, even managing to restore Richard's faith in Jacob. My favorite Jack moment in I don't even know how long.

-Speaking of Richard, it was nice to learn a couple of things about him; first, that it's all but guaranteed that he was originally on the Black Rock when it arrived (aside from Locke's comments about Richard being out of those chains, we had him tell us this week that he'd been in the Black Rock before, but this was the first time that he's come back to it), and second that Jacob touched him, gave him a gift, and that gift seems to involve the ability to live without aging. But that doesn't make him immortal, apparently, although it does seem to make him unable to kill himself (That reminded me a lot of Michael in Season 4, when he was off the island, and tried to kill himself, but he couldn't, because as Tom said, the island wouldn't let him).

-Week 2 of Where in the World are Jin & Sawyer? No new updates.

-I like that Miles doesn't forget where he came from. At the end of the day he just wants to get paid, even if it means digging up some three year-old graves.

-So the Nemesis is rocking the telekinesis now? That's new.

-Fun dialog between Frank and Ben when Frank revealed that he was supposed to fly Oceanic Flight 815, and wondered how his life would have changed. Fate certainly made the appropriate course corrections with Lapidus, as he ended up on the island anyways.

I think that's all I've got for this week. Bit of a shorter entry, as there wasn't much to theorize about. Let's hope that Charles Widmore is the start of some bigger things for the show, and we can start to learn what everything we've learned this season means.

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Entertainment - LOST 6.6 Thoughts]]>I will say this is one of the darker episodes of LOST that we've ever had. From beginning to end it was pretty much everything bad on the island attacking and infiltrating everything good on the island. We had Sayid and Dogen get into a fight, Claire show up in camp, the Nemesis manipulating Sayid by making exorbitant promises, Sayid inciting panic among the Others and giving them an ultimatum of leaving the Temple or dying, Sayid completing his transformation to evil by killing Dogen and Lennon, the Nemesis finally entering the Temple and completely destroying all of the Others that were left inside, and finally we close with the Nemesis leading the surviving Others, along with two of his recruits, Claire and Sayid, off to his next destination. Not a whole lot in there to be too happy about. I guess if we're looking for bright spots, Miles didn't die, which I was a little concerned about, and...um...well, Kate's stuck with Claire now, who made it clear to all of us that if Kate was the one that took Aaron that she would kill her, so perhaps we have that to look forward to?

Not really sure where all of this is headed, I'm kind of just along for the ride right now. I will say that during all of this, Jacob seems pretty unfazed by everything, although even when he was facing his imminent death, he didn't seem overly concerned, so it could be that's just how he rolls. But it would certainly seem that he's okay with how everything's proceeded so far, and he appears to have a plan of his own that he's in the middle of working on, that at the very least involves Jack and Hurley, and I would imagine involves Ilana at the very least, given her apparent extensive knowledge of the workings of the island (What lies in the shadow of the statue, knowledge of the Candidates, her ability to find the hidden exit in the Temple). The Nemesis has struck the first blow, now I would expect to see some retaliation by Jacob.

Let's get to some quick hits:

-I'm still waiting for Desmond to show up. I remember reading in the off-season how he was being promoted to a permanent member of the cast, so the fact the he's only been on the show for three minutes this season is a little odd to me. They can't keep him away for much longer. Along the same vein, I'm also quite antsy to see what role Charles Widmore ends up playing in all of this.

-Dogen and Lennon are both dead. Only thing is, both of them are lying dead in the pool of murky water. That same pool of murky water that Sayid "died" in, and we all saw how that turned out. I wouldn't be surprised at all if we saw one or both of them again down the road.

-Remember how Locke was supposed to be the leader of the Others? Well, what do you think he's doing now? Sure, he may not be exactly the type of leader they were looking for, but right now he's their only option if they want to live, so there you go. It all came true.

-The look on Ben's face when he found Sayid? Priceless. The 'back up slowly out of the room and hope he doesn't notice me' move was also a great follow up.

-Creepy Claire is creepy. Remind me why Kate thought it was a good idea to try and save her?

-You know, when Dogen told Lennon to put Claire in "the hole", I was thinking it was a prison term for solitary confinement. I was a little disappointed to find out that it was, in fact, just a hole.

-It was nice of the Nemesis to wait until just after everyone from the beach had made it back to the Temple to kill everyone. I mean, it has to make his life easier to have everyone in the same place, right?

-So, last week we had Sawyer inexplicably absent from the Nemesis' side, now this week we have Jin inexplicably absent from Claire's side. Neither of these people seem to be in danger of dying at the moment, but both were viewed as being useful by both of their (captives?). It's a little odd that they are both now missing. Maybe they're hanging out with Rose and Bernard somewhere (I guess I forgot to include them in the random people wandering the island list above).

-I see Miles has a fetish for dirty, unkept, insane, Australian jungle women. Maybe he just likes the way she handles an ax.

-Now, the Nemesis is all about getting what he wants by manipulation. As I've said before, this is very reminiscent of how Ben would get people to do things. He was very good at manipulation, exploiting the weaknesses of others for his own gain (or the island's gain, depending on how you want to look at it). With Ben, his constant manipulation made him less than popular with certain people, and led to several ass kickings. I'll be curious to see how the Nemesis handles this same situation. He's very big on making promises to people, he told Sawyer he would take him off the island, he told Claire he would get her baby back (ribs), he told the Others they could leave with him, or they could die otherwise, he told Sayid that he could be with Nadia once again (and yes, I realize that he loved Shannon and she also died in his arms, but that's not who he was talking about). So he clearly needs these people for something, if he could do this all himself he would. But is he planning on fulfilling any of these promises? Why would he take anyone off the island with him? How is he supposed to give Aaron to Claire? Nadia's dead, is he capable of resurrection all of a sudden?

Now, another way to look at this is through the flash-sideways. In that storyline, Sayid has Nadia back in his life again (although he is not with her), Sawyer is off the island, Claire still has her baby. None of that means anything, but it's interesting to think that the Nemesis' promises are fulfilled in the other storyline.

-Speaking of off-island storyline, Keamy! I'm sad he was only around for five minutes, he was a great antagonist on the show. Nice to see he's still a douchebag, although apparently a slightly more successful one in this life. In the end, though, he's dead either way. The appearance of Jin certainly raises some questions about who he was delivering that watch to and what all that money in his bag was for.

-I do like the recurring theme of Sayid episodes focused on him trying to face who he is, what he's done in the past, and his attempts to break away from himself. It's a little sad how he never seems to be able to get away from it (torturing Sawyer, shooting Ben, working for Ben and killing anyone Ben wants, killing Dogen and Lennon). In the end, his story always ends up the same way it began, with him being a killer.

-Lennon getting his throat cut was extremely appropriate, considering the actor playing his character is most known for his role on Deadwood, a show that features the throat slash as the preferred method of execution.

-The Nemesis can't cross the ring of ash, apparently. Even after Jacob died, he can't cross the ring of ash (And who knows, perhaps all this ash is from when Jacob died previously, so him dying may not matter). And yet, in the Temple, when Dogen died, the Nemesis was able to change into the smoke monster and attack. Per Lennon, Dogen was the only one keeping it out. So what changed there? What does Dogen have to do with allowing the Nemesis to cross over the ring of ash? As we learned from Dogen, there's nothing terribly special about him. He was a regular guy off the island, and Jacob brought him there, and he's presumably the leader of the Temple. But him dying apparently changed something.

-I didn't notice much in the way of "hidden stuff", or random easter eggs, outside of Jack's brief appearance at the same hospital that Sayid was at. If anyone else noticed something let me know.

I think that's all I've got for this week. Despite a lot of craziness going down, particularly at the end of the episode, I thought there was surprisingly little to discuss today. Probably because it wasn't much of a "mythology" episode, although we did get some of that, and more of a "further the current storyline" episode. ABC's teaser for next week made me cry a little bit when it said there were only 10 more episodes until the series finale. Sad. See you next week, thanks for reading.

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Entertainment - LOST 6.5 Thoughts]]>It could be someone we already know (Desmond, Charles Widmore, Aaron, Ji Yeon), or it could be someone new that we've never seen before (LOST certainly isn't afraid to introduce new characters to us regardless of how many episodes we have left in the show, as was evidenced by the season premiere). We don't know who it is, and we don't know their purpose. What we do know, is that Jacob knows they're coming, and wants to help ensure that they manage to get to the island. So he enlists Hurley to help him, only how Hurley is supposed to help isn't totally clear at this point in time. Hurley took Jack to the light house, per Jacob's instructions, which led to Jack realizing that Jacob has been watching Jack his entire life, and also led to a broken light house. So, perhaps the mirrors in the light house were supposed to be destroyed, rendering it useless, or perhaps it's deeper than that. Maybe Jack is the one that is supposed to help get this someone to the island, and this was all part of a greater plan by Jacob to get Jack on board. After all, we don't know how this someone is getting to the island, it may not necessarily be by boat.

For me, this was the most intriguing bit of information that we learned in this week's episode. Actually, this week reminded me a lot of last week, where we're given a good amount of information, but we don't necessarily know what to do with that information yet, but eventually it will be revealed, and we'll have all this backstory to piece everything together. For comparison's sake, it reminds me of how they handled Season 5 at times. The season premiere last year opened with a clip of Dr. Chang and Daniel Faraday in 1977, the day of the Incident. Now, did we know any of that at the time? Of course not. We knew who Dr. Chang was, we knew who Daniel was, but that's about it. We had know idea about the island moving through time, no idea about the Incident (aside from vague mentionings of it on the Dharma training videos), but as the season went on, it all eventually made sense. I'm expecting more of the same this season, based on what we've seen so far. For those of you getting frustrated, my advice would be to let it play out. I do feel like they're giving us information, giving us answers, I just don't think we have enough of the puzzle pieces yet to see the whole picture. But they're definitely giving us pieces to work with, so it's only a matter of time.

While we're on the topic of LOST's story-telling choices, I wanted to mention an interesting theory that I heard on a couple of podcasts this week regarding the flash-sideways. As I mentioned, the writers really like giving us information before we know what to do with it, or before we can see the complete picture. Season 1, we spent the entire season seeing flashbacks of the survivors getting to the airport, and getting on the airplane, and then finally at the end of the season we saw something close to a complete picture, of everyone on the flight, together. As I mentioned earlier, we saw this several times in Season 5, showing us things that hadn't happened yet, with the clip from 1977, showing the Oceanic 6 back on the island before we had even known how they were planning on getting back to the island. Even the biggest shock of the season finale in Season 3, showing us our first ever flash-forward, revealing that not only did Kate and Jack get off the island, but Jack wanted to go back to the island, when in present day everyone was still on the island, and Jack had just made contact with someone on the freighter off the coast. So clearly this is a often-used tactic by the writers. Well, what if something similar is happening with the flash-sideways we've been seeing? What if this is the future of the people on the island, only we just don't know it yet? Damon and Carlton have been very adamant about telling us that they don't like calling this storyline an "alternate timeline," because it's just as integral to the plot as the on-island storyline. But that's all they'll give us, leaving us to try and figure out what it all means. Discussions I've had with people revolve around what this other storyline means, and a lot of people think that we're looking at two different storylines here, one where the Incident worked, and the plane lands, and one where it perhaps didn't work, and everyone went back to 2007, and nothing changed. I've always had problems swallowing this idea, because I just can't figure out a way where it makes sense in my head. This scenario of all of a sudden there being two parallel timelines on the show, I don't get that, because I don't understand the idea behind having a universe where the plane lands safely, and the island is underwater. How does that further the overall story that we're watching? When the LOST writers integrated time travel into the story, they did so with a purpose. The survivors went back to the 1950s and the 1970s because in the history of the island, that's what they were always supposed to do. I get that. Parallel universes? I don't get that. Because I don't see what you can do with that. While there are many similarities between the two, there are also many differences, and each seems to be following its own course. So what's the purpose behind something like that, to eventually merge the two universes? The off-island storyline, all the survivors realize what had happened to them in the other universe? The other universe course corrects itself so that the fates of the survivors is the same as it was supposed to be? None of that really rings true to me.

But, what if there was no alternate timeline? What if everything we're watching is all a part of the same universe, the same reality? I don't mean this in a linear fashion, trying to imply that the Incident worked, and the plane landed safely, and yet somehow in 2007 everyone's on the island as if nothing changed. If there's anything we've learned, it's that life on the island does not have to be linear. Instead, think about the idea of the flash-sideways' showing us things that haven't happened yet. What if the flash-sideways are showing us the end of the show, only we don't know it yet. Think about this. We, as viewers, are invested in these characters. We want to know more about them, what they do with their lives, and most importantly, when the show is over, we want to know what happens to them. That would mean some kind of epilogue after the big series ending event occurs. This happens constantly on 24. At the end of the day, evil is thwarted, and the show spends 20-30 minutes wrapping up the lives of the characters, giving us a glimpse of what they'll be doing tomorrow, and the day after that, etc. It's one of those things that you want to see as a viewer, because you care about the characters. Well, how do you do that with a show like LOST? There are so many people on this show, with so many different stories, how do you wrap all of that up? Why not spread out the epilogue, over the course of the entire season, so that you are able to see enough of everyone's lives to know how things turn out for them. Because the alternative, trying to cram everything in at the end of the series finale, it just wouldn't do these characters justice.

So what does that mean? These flash-sideways are taking place in 2004, our on-island storyline is in 2007. Fair enough. But we still don't know what the end game is going to involve on this island. We do know that the island is uniquely situated in time, and actually has many unique properties, so if, say, the island were to be destroyed (or if important people on the island were to be destroyed), we have no idea what that would mean for everyone and everything everywhere else. What if this moment that the series is building up to, for whatever reason, results in the island under water, and as a result, has all of these other effects on everyone's lives that we are seeing in these flash-sideways. So these flash-sideways are simply showing us the world after this war, this battle, that we've been hearing about for so long. They are our epilogue, the happy ending that we've wanted for all of our characters.

Now, this is simply an idea that I heard thrown out there. I think it's just as likely that the show ends with, say, Jack and Locke sitting on the beach talking about progress (and personally I think that would be all kinds of awesome). But as far as explaining what purpose the flash-sideways serve, that's by far my favorite theory that I've heard so far, and I haven't really seen anything so far that would imply that it's not true.

Well, if you've made it through all that drivel and are still reading, I salute you. Let's get to some quick hits:

-"We'll get that cleaned up. If there's one thing that'll kill you around here it's infection." Great, great line by Claire. Her casual delivery was perfect.

-Speaking of Claire, she's...um, really gone off the deep end there, eh? I had a feeling that when Jin took looked in that crib that there would be some makeshift baby in there, but using an animal skull as the head? That's just special. I think Rousseau would even call Claire crazy. Yikes. Don't underestimate her, though, putting an ax through a guy's chest is no small feat.

-Jin looked slightly terrified there, wouldn't you say? He was fine with saying absolutely anything that he thought would get him the hell out of there and away from crazy Claire. I will say, after rewatching some old episodes, that if Jin and Sun do not get their on-island reunion before one of them dies or gets infected or whatever, I'm going to be very pissed off. You hear that Locke? Don't screw this up.

-Kind of weird to be sans Ben for 2 of the last 3 episodes. Let's have less of that. Thanks.

-Of course Hurley and Miles are playing Tic-Tac-Toe. I have no doubt that it was Hurley's idea, and I have no doubt that Miles thought it was a dumb idea because Tic-Tac-Toe stops being fun once you realize that you will just have tie after tie after tie after tie unless you play someone who doesn't know proper strategy. Seriously, can we spin these two off once LOST is over?

-On a side note, I was watching the beginning of Rush Hour over the weekend, and during the opening credits I saw Ken Leung's name, but I didn't think much of it. Then, I see the main antagonist, and thought he looked a little like Miles, which was odd, because this character, Sang, is straight out of China, and is pretty well versed in the martial arts. This is pretty contrasting with the character of Miles Straume. But, I looked it up on IMDB, and sure enough, that's him, shaved blond hair and all. I guess the last time I saw that movie was before Miles ever showed up on LOST.

-Did anyone notice anything at David's mother's house that would tell us who his mother is? I didn't notice anything, but I was just curious if it was Sarah, or someone else.

-I've always appreciated Jack's sensitivity towards others. Five minutes after he tells Sayid the reason the Others are looking at him weird, he goes with Hurley to leave the Temple, leaving Sayid there by himself with a bunch of people that recently tried to kill him. Way to go Jack.

-I thought the throw back to Season 1 was really well done. Shannon's inhaler, the caves, all great stuff. I especially loved Hurley's line about completely forgetting about Adam and Eve, which I have to think is a bit of a joke towards LOST's obsessive viewers who have been talking about Adam & Eve ever since we first saw them.

-Per Lostpedia, Kate Austen is number 51, and is not crossed out. I don't know what that means, but there you go.

-Something I thought about the names and numbers was that they were all listed in a completely separate place on the island, and this time in numerical fashion. I assume that there are 360 of them, no more, no less. I heard some speculation last week about whether the names in the cave were really written by Jacob, or if it was actually the Nemesis' cave, and he wrote them. I think it's a much more intriguing idea now that we see all of the names written somewhere else, in a much more orderly fashion, and in a "light" house, no less.

-I thought the fact that Sawyer wasn't with the Nemesis was a little concerning, especially after the Nemesis said that to leave the island they would have to do it "together."

-With the imminent arrival of the Nemesis to the Temple (according to Jacob), I wonder what that means for Kate, and if we'll see anyone else crossed off the list soon.

-ABC really blows at these previews for next week's episode, I must say. For those that didn't see, I won't spoil anything, but needless to say, they did this lame thing about how next week's episode was so big they could only show a few seconds in the trailer. So stupid.

Alright, that's all I've got for this week. As always, thanks for reading.

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Entertainment - LOST 6.4 Thoughts]]>Six numbers. Six people. John Locke, Hugo Reyes, Sayid Jarrah, James Ford, Jack Shephard, (Sun or Jin) Kwon. All brought to the island as potential protectors of the island, along with countless others over the years. Many, many names have been on the list, and they've all been scratched off, except for those six (Well, five now). It only ends once. Anything that happens before that, it's just progress.

A big piece of the puzzle was revealed to us this week, as we were shown a glimpse of what, exactly, this is all about. Why are our Oceanic survivors here. It's not just because they just happened to survive a plane crash. Their lives have been influenced by the island for many years, affecting them, drawing them to the island. The Nemesis tells us that it's because Jacob considered them to be candidates, candidates to take over as protector of the island. I would assume there's some amount of truth to that, but I would also assume he's not being entirely honest, either. The Nemesis is in the business of manipulation, doing whatever it is he can to help him achieve his ultimate goal of escape. And that means doing anything, or saying anything to anyone that will get him closer to freedom. What he revealed to Sawyer, he revealed for a reason. And the reason was not to enlighten Sawyer (or the rest of us) about the big secrets of the island. It's because in Sawyer, the Nemesis sees a way off the island, so keep in mind that anything he tells Sawyer, it's because he thinks it will help him leave.

So where does that leave us? The mystery surrounding the Nemesis gets a little clearer with each passing episode. He claims to have been a regular man at some point in time, probably back when he first arrived on the island. What he is now is not quite as clear, but we know he is essentially a prisoner of the island, unable to leave, unable to be "free". But he has a plan, a way to escape, to get off the island and go home, wherever that may be. We don't know what his plan is, but it involves Sawyer. I believe the Nemesis is possibly also looking for a replacement of sorts. Whatever his role is on the island, perhaps, like Jacob, there always needs to be someone to fill that role, and the only way for the Nemesis to escape is to find a replacement. Maybe he looks at Sawyer, a broken man who, like the Nemesis, has lost someone he loved, and thinks he can be manipulated into filling his shoes. Whatever the end game is for the Nemesis, I don't think the picture is as rosy as the one he painted for Sawyer. If the Nemesis gets its way, I don't see Sawyer escaping anywhere with him, and in fact, just the opposite.

On the other hand, we have our five remaining candidates. Hurley, Sayid, Sawyer, Jack, and either Sun or Jin (I find it interesting that the Nemesis doesn't know which Kwon is on the list). Sayid being on the list is curious, since he has been "infected", according to Dogan. We assume that the Nemesis knows this, since the infection seems to be his doing, and yet he wasn't crossed off the list, only Locke. So that leaves us with Jack, Hurley, Sawyer, and one of the Kwons. All four of them are currently on the island, although only Jack and Hurley are safely in the Temple. How will the final candidate be decided? With Jacob dead, who is responsible for maintaining the list of candidates? How does one get added or removed from the list? When a candidate is finally chosen, what does that mean for that person? For everyone else on the island? For the Nemesis? To be discovered later.

Some other quick hits:

-Richard's place in all of this continues to be one of the great mysteries of this show. The Nemesis seems to be almost, offended, that Richard has sided himself with Jacob, or maybe jealous, to the point that he openly mocks Richard for how Jacob supposedly treated him, and kept him in the dark. Ben referred to him as an advisor, and we know of him as someone that is in communication with Jacob, but the more we see this relationship between he and the Nemesis, the less I feel like I know about Richard Alpert. I will say that him looking as terrified as he was when he came upon Sawyer was shocking to say the least. No one on this show has been more level-headed than Richard. He's never lost his cool, and rarely looks surprised by anything that goes on on the island. But this, this was a brand new side of Richard. Scared, nervous, jittery, just a genuinely frightened man who wanted absolutely nothing to do with the Nemesis. Very surprising to see, I thought.

-Any thoughts on who the kid was? I would say that the knee jerk reaction would be a young Jacob, just because he's appearing to the Nemesis, and has light hair. I've heard Aaron's name thrown around as well, which is certainly an intriguing possibility, and not necessarily an unrealistic one given the fact that we saw Walt appear to Locke as a 27-year old after Locke had been shot by Ben. Whoever he is, he clearly has a copy of the mysterious rulebook that none of us have, and it definitely would have made our lives easier if they had just included a copy of it in the Season 5 DVD set. He reminds the Nemesis that he knows the rules, and that he can't kill "him". Which, you know, is helpful. At least if he had said her we could have narrowed it down to Kate, Sun, Ilana, Claire, or Cindy. Him? This does nothing for me. On a completely random note, according to this kid's IMDB profile, he once was on a show called "Ctrl" playing a character named Young Ben.

-Let's talk about the list some more. First thought probably on your mind: No sign of Kate's name anywhere. Fair enough. But that doesn't necessarily mean her name isn't on the wall somewhere, crossed off, we just didn't see it. Some other things to note, both the name Littleton and Rousseau were crossed off the list. This could be referring to Claire and Danielle, it could also be referring to Aaron and Alex. Could the name Kwon be Jin since the other names are all males? Does that have anything to do with this? Does a crossed off name mean you're dead? If your name was never on the list to begin with, and you still ended up on the island (ie. Kate, Rose, Bernard), does that just make you an unfortunate soul who just happened to get caught up in all of this drama? Is that what happened to people like Dogan or Lenon some years ago? Why is Kate not a candidate if Jacob visited her as a child? There's more to this Kate story, I'm sure her name was absent for a reason.

-The Nemesis seemed to be going out of his way to watch out for Sawyer, as evidenced by him saving Sawyer's life while they were climbing down Jacob's Ladder (get it?). I wonder what would have happened to Sawyer if he had tried to shoot the Nemesis. Seemed to me that Bram and his people weren't attacked by the Nemesis until they tried to shoot him. Random thought.

-Ilana took Jacob's ashes and put them in a bag. I know the Others have a steady supply of ashes available, but I have to think that Jacob's ashes might be a little bit more important.

-With Hurley and Miles absent from this week's episode the comic relief will be provided by Mr. Frank Lapidus.

-Best funeral speech ever? "He was a believer, a man of faith. He was a much better man than I will ever be. And I'm very sorry that I murdered him." I vote yes. To be fair to Ben, he did seem to be a little remorseful there, but that last line is just hilarious.

-I still don't have anything to add to the flash sideways for this episode other than to say that again, I think it was written very well, I really liked the integration of the characters into each others storylines, and I'm kicking myself for not recognizing Hurley's Hummer before he showed up. But, still waiting for this to play out and see what it has to do with the on-island storyline.

-How would you like to have Benjamin Linus teaching your European History class in school? I'm terrified just at the thought of it.

-I see the writers are going to drag out the Sun/Jin reunion for as long as humanly possible. Ilana tells Sun that Jin is most likely at the Temple because it's the safest place on the island, when of course Jin is out looking for Sun and is headed toward the beach, and I have no expectations of them randomly running into each other in the jungle. Jerks. They haven't seen each other in three years! Stop teasing me and just get them back together!

-Does anyone else find it incredibly inconvenient to keep a list of people on a rock in a cave embedded in the face of a cliff that is only accessible by some super sketchy ladders? I mean, would you ever want to go down there and update the list? Maybe that's why Jacob kept Richard around. "Hey Richard, I just don't feel like scaling a cliff today to add #457 - Arzt to the list, would you mind going down there and doing it for me?"

Alright, that's all of the inane commentary I can think of for this week. Fantastic episode, probably only second to Kate's episode as best episode of the season (Possibly). Thanks as always for reading, see you next week.

EDIT: My wife's friend Tim shared this with me, it's a list of all the names that were on the wall. I have no way of confirming this, but something to definitely check out: List of candidates

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Entertainment - LOST 6.3 Thoughts]]>Okay, I'm being a little harsh, it wasn't a terrible episode by any stretch of the imagination, but it was definitely a slower-paced episode, and I'm not totally convinced that the writers made the most of the episode, with the story in the Temple in particular dragging a bit, waiting as long as possible to reveal information to us. I also think it's probably our natural reaction to feel a little disappointed due to the fact that the beach storyline involving the Nemesis and the rest of the Others was absent this week, and right now the Nemesis is probably the primary plot on the show. Now, despite all of that, I think we were given some very interesting scenes, and there was definitely a lot of good character development as well.

Quick tangent, I had a scare last night as we were in the middle of a two-day snow storm, which had knocked out the signal to the satellite dish on top of the roof of our building. Fortunately, with mere minutes to spare, I was able to harness the power of the internet and find a kind soul that was streaming the episode online (and with surprisingly good quality, too). If that hadn't worked out, I'm sure I would have been up waiting for the episode to show up on a torrent somewhere for me to download during the late hours of the evening, so I'm glad the crisis was averted.

Anyways, I wanted to start off with the off-island timeline. I don't have much to say about it, because as I mentioned last week, it's just not clear to anyone right now what this story has to do with the on-island timeline, so it's hard to get real invested in what's going on, or speculate a whole lot as to what any of it means, because we just don't know anything. Damon and Carlton have said that we just need to be patient and trust them, and so I will continue to do so. Now, that doesn't mean that the timeline is completely without merit. I do find it fascinating to watch the story of our characters play out if things had happened a little different. Another parallel scene that was written really well this week was the scene in the hospital with Ethan Goodspeed. Creepy Ethan now appears to be a legitimate doctor at a hospital in L.A., and still has his original birth name, and is not the Ethan Rom that we once knew him to be. We also had Kate appear to experience some deja vu of her own, after Jack went through something similar last week. When Kate was in the taxi, she looked back and saw Jack and seemed to have a memory of him (and not like she just recognized him from the plane ride earlier). Also, when Claire said her baby's name was Aaron, that too seemed to ring familiar with Kate. I'm sure these recognitions will play an important role down the road, we just don't know what that role will be yet.

Back on the island, we had an episode without Ben, Richard, or Locke, which is a little surprising if you think about it, and is no doubt part of the reason why the episode left everyone a little lacking, as those are three of the strongest and most intriguing characters on the show. We learned a little bit more about Sayid's condition, namely that he is not Jacob, as some of us were quick to speculate. He seems to be himself, for now, but apparently is "infected" with...well, something that came from the Nemesis. I wonder where he got this infection. My first guess would be the pool where they tried to save him. The water being cloudy certainly didn't appear to be a good thing as far as the Others were concerned, perhaps its effects on the sick and dying are also less than desirable. It does answer the question of what exactly happened to Sayid, and how it's different than the Nemesis appearing as, say, Yemi, or Christian. We are still left with the question of what the Nemesis is currently if Locke's body is still on the beach, but at least we have a better understanding of how all of this crazy manifesting, possessing, and infecting works. Plus, Claire's back! Kind of.

If Sayid isn't killed, then, according to Dogen, he will become like Claire. But what does that mean, exactly? What is Claire? Is she a minion of the Nemesis? When did she become infected? The last time we saw Claire, she told Locke that she was "with him", referring to Christian, which I believe to be the Nemesis. I can't help but feel like the Nemesis is trying to recruit people for his side, for this war that we have been hearing about for the past couple of seasons. Then, if I think back, to what Widmore said to Locke, about the war, about needing to get Locke back to the island, because if he doesn't, the wrong side will win. Now that we know that Locke getting back to the island was all part of the Nemesis' plan, it certainly appears that Charles Widmore has chosen his side in the battle.

Last thing about Claire, we only saw her for a few seconds at the end of the episode, but the similarities (intentional, no doubt) between her and Rousseau were striking. Actually, the episode in general had a Rousseau feel to it. We had the electric torture of Sayid, exactly as Rousseau did to Sayid when she first met him. We had the booby traps around the island, presumably set up by Claire. And we finally had Claire standing there, rifle in hand, looking very frazzled and a little grizzly. I do wonder why the writers chose to present Claire to us in that way, knowing full well that she was acting just like Rousseau, and right after Dogen told us about the "darkness" that had consumed Claire. Makes me think more about Rousseau killing the rest of her crew because they got sick, or even Justin (the Other that was with Kate and Jin) and his choice of words saying that the French woman died "years ago", even though it was only three years. I don't know, maybe it's nothing, I just got a weird vibe from the whole way that they went about presenting Claire to us.

Quick hits:

-Kudos to Josh Holloway on yet another fantastic episode, he's really been hitting them out of the ballpark. His scene with Kate on the dock was heartbreaking to say the least, and I thought he did a fantastic job of really displaying the emotion and affection he had for Juliet, and at the same time was able to show us that Juliet was wrong in worrying about Kate's return to the island. Sawyer's dedication was only to Juliet, and that was made even clearer in her death, as he almost completely discarded Kate at the barracks and at the dock.

-Oceanic 815 crashed on September 22, 2004. The date on Claire's sonogram was October 22, 2004. Hmm.

-Curious to know what Horace Goodspeed is doing with himself these days. Wherever Ethan was born, it was not around the influence of the Others, as he kept his name, became a doctor, etc.

-Jack didn't take much time in reverting back to his stubborn asshole persona. Because we all know that being a douche to anyone that disagrees with you has always been one of his more endearing qualities.

-Anyone else think of The Empire Strikes Back when Sayid was getting tortured? My buddy Julius Goat came up with a clever Princess Bride comment on Twitter, but all I could think of was Han Solo after Vader tortures him, telling Leia "They didn't even ask me any questions."

-I thought it was nice to see that despite shunning most forms of technology that the Others are still well versed in the ways of the Heimlich Maneuver

-I read on Lostpedia that the character of Aldo went 50 episodes between appearances. 50! That's basically half of the entire run of the show. I think it's great that they brought back a completely random one off character like that from three seasons ago, even if his return was short-lived. Maybe we can sneak in a Danny DeVito guest spot while we're at it.

-I've been trying to figure out where Sawyer got a ring so that he could propose to Juliet. I don't think Dharma had a jewelry store on the island (or a pawn shop as Melissa quipped last night), so my thoughts are that there was a 'Red'-like character on the island who was good at getting things (That's Morgan Freeman's character from The Shawshank Redemption for the ignorant). You tell this guy that you need a rock hammer, or an engagement ring, and he uses his connections to make sure that whatever you want is on the next sub over. Or maybe Eloise Hawking makes house calls.

-The woman who was Aaron's nanny in the original off-island timeline is the same woman who admitted Claire to the hospital.

-"We'll be at the food court." Love it.

Alright, that's all I've got for this week. Little bit shorter this time around, probably because there was not much in the way of theories or mythology on the episode to discuss. Next week we've got more Nemesis in store, so I expect things to pick up. Before I go, I want to leave you with a couple of awesome LOST videos that if you have not already seen (hopefully you have), you should really watch.

First we've got a very well-edited video recreating the original 815 plane crash in real time:

Then we've got a quick side-by-side comparison of the original opening shot of Jack on Oceanic 815, and Jack on Oceanic 815 in the new timeline:

Thanks for reading, see you next week.

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Entertainment - LOST 6.1 and 6.2 Thoughts]]>For starters, our Losties are done with 1977. The bomb went off, and they all ended up in present day 2007, on the island, with Sun, not-Locke, and everyone else. Sadly we are sans one Juliet, who is too busy dealing with aliens to fit any more crazy sci-fi shows into her schedule. She dies in Sawyer's arms, and our final message from her comes from the grave, where Miles tells us she said "it worked". Hmm. Meanwhile, Sayid is dying, Jacob appears to Hurley (I wonder if that'll become a recurring theme, when someone dies the first thing they do is go seek out Hurley so that they can talk to him), and tells him to go to the Temple to save Sayid. Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Jin take Sayid to the Temple, where we meet...more Others? But there are Others at the beach with Richard. Who are these people? Whoever they are, they don't mess around and are set to kill all the Losties until Hurley uses his last life line and throws out Jacob's name, and offers up the guitar case as his evidence (Since the writers decided to agonize us all last season with that mysterious damn guitar case, I really expected them to continue to toy with us this season; surprised they went to it in the first episode). Jacob's wooden Ankh (that he no doubt meticulously carved himself) and the mysterious piece of paper inside was apparently enough to save their lives. The other Others take Sayid into their mysterious fountain of youth, which is suddenly filled with cloudy water (Hmm.), and proceed to drown him until he's dead. Okay, not exactly what everyone was expecting when Jacob said that Sayid could be saved at the Temple. While everyone's mourning the death of Sayid, Sawyer and Miles are brought in, while Hurley reveals to the apparent leader of the other Others that Jacob is dead, which is news to them. They immediately do what they can to defend against the arrival of the Nemesis, starting by dumping a large ring of ashes around the temple to keep it (him?) out. Finally, to cap things off, Sayid, who was clearly only mostly dead (as if there's such a thing as all the way dead on this island), wakes up, very much alive, and asks what happened.

Meanwhile, on the beach, we pick up where we left off with the Nemesis at the Foot of the Statue, and Ben sort of standing there a bit in shock. I don't think he much enjoys killing defenseless people who just sit there and take it as Jacob did, you're much less emotionally invested when you sneak attack someone or kill someone who's actually putting up a fight. The Nemesis orders Ben out to go bring back Richard so that he can "talk" to him, which probably sets off some red flags in Ben's mind given what just went down. Richard shows Ben Locke's dead body, and Ben comes back with some of Ilana's people. That went swimmingly, as the Nemesis changed from Locke into the smoke monster, and made quick work of everyone in the room. The Nemesis heads outside, knocks Richard out, and then carries him off into the jungle, destination unknown (I'd say the Temple is a good bet).

But wait, there's more! An alternate timeline! Where did it come from? I have no idea. Maybe the Incident worked and didn't work all at the same time. What I do know is that it's given us some funky new flashback transitional sounds (I heard they're being referred to as "flashsideways", even though we're technically flashing back to 2004. Details). In this alternate timeline, everything's crazy, dogs and cats, living together, mass hysteria. Well, kind of. Actually, we're back on Oceanic 815 on September 22, 2004. We see Jack Shepherd on the plane, and Cindy the flight attendant giving Jack one of those mini bottles of alcohol, probably so he can stand there and hold it in his hand and feel like a giant. But wait, she only gives him one bottle, I thought she was supposed to give him two. Ah, there is Rose sitting across from Jack, as they discuss the turbulence. But wait, the ring she wore around her neck, it's not there. And the plane, it didn't crash. Why didn't it crash? Well, as the cameras take us outside, and into the ocean, we see that the island is completely submerged under water. We see the barracks, the ruins, even the four-toed statue (with plenty of algae on it to let us know it's been down there for a while). Hmm. During the rest of the plane ride, we see almost all of the survivors, save for a few (Shannon, Michael, Walt, Libby, Ana Lucia, Eko, and of course, Nikki & Paulo). The plane lands at LAX without incident, and everyone goes about their own business. Just like that. Where is this alternate storyline headed? I have no idea. My first thought was to think back to what Eloise told Desmond about the universe making course corrections, that you can't change things, which could mean that in this alternate timeline, things would gradually correct themselves, until that timeline eventually matched up with how things were supposed to be. Only problem with that is that the island doesn't exist. It's under a whole lot of water. So where this is headed, I have no idea.

Quick hits:

-I thought the writing for the scenes on the plane were very well done. Lots of attention to detail with how things are sort of the same, but sort of different, as well as all the parallels to the interactions we saw on the island with what we saw on the plane. Jack looking for a pen to save someone's life, Charlie telling Jack he was supposed to die, Boone choosing to latch onto Locke should anything happen to the plane. Interesting to note the similarities and differences in everyone's lives. Jack still went to Australia to bring back his father's body, Hurley still won the lottery, but now has only good things happen to him, Charlie is still addicted to heroin, Locke is still paralyzed, Boone went to Australia to bring his sister back, but she stayed, Sun & Jin still have a trying marriage, Kate's still under arrest, but it's for killing her father's assistant, not her father (per the America's Most Wanted video at Comic-Con). I honestly have no idea where they're headed with this, but I thought they wrote the airplane scenes really, really well.

-So, Desmond was on the plane...or was he? I thought it awfully convenient that Desmond basically showed up right around the time the plane was flying over the island, and yet when Jack came back from saving Charlie, he was gone, and the only other person Jack asked about Desmond was sleeping (Rose), so no one else but Jack saw him. I don't know where Desmond was, but I don't think he was on that plane. And on that note,

-Jack seemed to have a bit of deja vu when Desmond called him brother. But the whole reason Desmond met Jack the first time was because Desmond was training for a race around the world, a race (as theorized by Julius Goat) that he was possibly pushed into by Charles Widmore to make sure he ended up on the island, because it was his destiny. Well, if there's no island, then there's probably no race around the world, which means that Jack and Desmond probably haven't met before. Hmm. And what was wrong with Jack's neck? His neck just happened to be randomly bleeding for no reason? He also seemed to look at Kate for a second too long, as if he recognized her, as well. In general Jack seemed to be doing a bit of a double take, but he seemed to be the only one that felt like anything was out of sorts.

-That US Marshall that caught Kate is a pretty big moron. How many times has she escaped from him, or at the very least managed to get some shots in on him? Idiot.

-Christian's body has gone missing? Of course it has.

-Any thoughts on if Sun can still speak English? I'm voting yes, although it's tough to tell. The first time around, she waited to reveal she spoke English until Jin was basically facing a life-or-death situation. If she's hiding it now, it wouldn't be out of character at all for her to do so.

-I see Kate finally found Claire. Granted she's a hostage in the taxicab Kate's in, but hey, it's better than nothing, right?

-Touching scene between Locke and Jack, interesting to see Jack reach out to Locke like that to take a look at his back. I also felt like Locke had a very positive aura about him in general, which is not what I would have expected from him. His mood in his wheelchair life was noticeably different from how he acted on the island. Perhaps he got to go on his walkabout after all, although once I saw them bring the wheelchair out for him, I assumed he was just making that up when talking to Boone.

-Back on the island, look who we have, it's Cindy and the kids. Good call on my part claiming we'd never see them again. Way to go. I wonder why they weren't with the group with Richard that went to see Jacob.

-We have a dead Locke, who, upon returning to the island, is manifested by the Nemesis. Now, we have Jacob die, a dying Sayid, a dead Jacob telling Hurley how to save Sayid, upon said attempt at saving Sayid in the Temple, Sayid dies, only to come back to life several hours later. Oh, and whatever's on the mysterious piece of paper that Jacob wrote said that if Sayid died everyone would be in a lot of trouble. I mean, I'm not saying that Jacob is taking the form of Sayid, but...well yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. Locke dies, the Nemesis takes his form. Jacob dies, Sayid dies, Sayid comes back to life after Hurley does what Jacob tells him to do to save Sayid. Just connecting the dots.

-So, this fountain of youth (that's what I'm calling it until I see a better term for it), seems like it's a natural spring that flows up from the island itself. I wonder what, exactly it's capable of doing. One can only assume it's how Richard saved Ben's life as a child. Does it help people heal faster? Does it prevent people from aging? I have a mental picture in my head now of Richard going and hanging out there after a hard day's work like it's a hot tub.

-We finally have some kind of sense of purpose from the Nemesis. He wants to get off the island, and he wants to "go home". Here's a guy who's hundreds of years old and has been on the island for a long, long time. What "home" could he want to go to? We don't even know what he is, for that matter.

-I liked the line from the Nemesis about Richard not wearing any chains. I know a popular theory out there is that Richard arrived to the island on the Black Rock, which was coincidentally, a slave ship, so it's certainly possible that Richard was once a slave there.

-I'm still a little confused by the limitations of the smoke monster, and the ring of ashes. It's very apparent now that the Nemesis can't cross over a ring of ashes (I don't know if these have to be specific kinds of ashes or what), which is why one of Ilana's people created a small ring around himself, and the Temple people put a ring around the Temple. Clearly the first time we saw this was outside of "Jacob's" cabin. What's interesting about this is that the Nemesis seemingly escaped from the Cabin when Ilana & Co. came across it, because the ring of ashes had been broken. But if the Nemesis was captive inside of there (Which would be why he told Locke "Help me"), then how is it we saw the smoke monster roaming freely around before that? If the Nemesis and the smoke monster are the same entity, then wouldn't they both have been captive inside the cabin? We don't know all the pieces to this yet, so I'm sure it will be cleared up in the future, but for now it's still something I'm trying to wrap my head around.

-Can we get Timothy Olyphant and Ian McShane on the show too? I think we've had everyone else from Deadwood on the show so far. With the addition of John Hawkes as Lennon (the translator for Dogan, the Japanese leader), that ups our Deadwood count to five, if I'm remembering correctly (Edit: I wasn't remembering correctly, I forgot about Cassidy, who played Joanie Stubbs on Deadwood, so that makes six!). Let's just go ahead and get the rest of them on the show while we're at it.

Alright, that's all I've got for this week. Lots of new stuff going on in the premiere to take in. We've got a new alternate storyline that's heading somewhere unknown, we've got a new location to take in on the island (the Temple), we've got the Nemesis in a new body, and perhaps Jacob as well. If it keeps Terry O'Quinn and Naveen Andrews on the show, I'm all for it. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all next week.

?: I don't have to ask. You brought them here. You're trying to prove me wrong, aren't you?

Jacob: You are wrong.

?: Am I? They come, fight, they destroy, they corrupt, it always ends the same.

Jacob: It only ends once. Anything that happens before that, it's just progress.

?: Do you have any idea how badly I want to kill you?

Jacob: Yes.

?: One of these days, sooner or later, I'm going to find a loophole, my friend.

Jacob: Well, when you do, I'll be right here.

?: Always nice talking to you, Jacob.

Jacob: Always nice talking to you too.

If LOST has done anything for us over the last five years, it's caused us to ask many, many questions. It's answered a lot of them, but there are still lots that remain unanswered. Will we find answers to all of them? Certainly not. Am I hoping that we can at least get closure on some of the more important issues? Certainly. I think I would like to use this post to talk about where I think the show may be heading, some questions I think will be answered, and maybe some questions that probably won't be answered (Like if we will ever find out the deal with the Hurley Bird is. I know, I'm sure a bunch of you completely forgot it ever existed. Sorry).

Before I forget, my good friend Mr. Julius Goat has written three parts in his 25-part short novel chronicling every single thing he could possibly know (and many things he certainly doesn't know) about the subject of LOST. Given his procrastinating nature, I'm not sure if he will be able to finish the remaining 22 parts before the season premiere. The first three parts are here, here, and here. (Warning: You may need to block off several hours to get through these posts)

(Spoiler note: I may reference the episode title of the season premiere in my post. That's it, that's as much as I know about the upcoming season, so if you're completely set on not knowing ANYTHING about next season, you may want to avert your eyes. But, if you're okay with knowing the title of the premiere, please continue. End of disclaimer)

Trying to figure out where LOST is headed, and what we can expect in Season 6 is a tricky task. The show is ever-evolving, and always seems to be giving the audience a new perspective on things. In Season 1, it was a very narrow point of view; we had a plane crash, a bunch of survivors, trying to figure out where they are, what's going on, and how they can get off the island. In the meantime, we have character flashbacks that tell us more about the lives that these survivors have led. Then we learn about the hatch, and the Others, as we transition into Season 2, which is spent learning about the Dharma Initiative, the Others, and the history of the island. In Season 3, the picture is opened up even more, as we learn about where the Others live, what their place is on the island, what happened to the Dharma Initiative, and we are also introduced to the idea of getting off the island. Season 4, the picture is expanded further, as we saw our survivors get off the island, and thanks to the beauty of the flash forward, we saw what leaving meant. In Season 5, our survivors returned to the island, we learned more about Jacob and his place in the history of the island, we learned about an impending war, and we also learned even more about the history of Dharma. Our perspective is constantly expanding, with a bigger and bigger picture being introduced to us each season.

So what does that mean for this season? The producers have mentioned Season 6 being similar to Season 1, although they never said in what way. I think in the same way that Season 1 was very focused on the survivors, and their stories, so to will Season 6. I think we will learn about why the ended up on the island, why they were chosen, and how their story fits into the history of the island. Some of that was hinted at with Jacob's flashbacks during the Season 5 finale, and I believe Jacob's conversation with his Nemesis not only related to the Black Rock, but also Oceanic's crash many, many years later.

However, I'm prepared for anything. After all, we still have our big cliffhanger that needs resolution. We have a hydrogen bomb that went off. We have one camp of people that truly believe the bomb needed to go off to bring change to the island. By setting off the bomb, they prevent The Incident, which means the button doesn't need to be pushed every 108 minutes, which means Desmond will never accidentally cause Oceanic 815 to crash, which means it will land in LAX as scheduled on September 22, 2004. Then, in the other camp, we have the people that believe the bomb going off was, in fact, The Incident. The bomb was always supposed to go off, you can't change the past, what happened happened, etc. The plane will crash, and everything will play out as planned. One of these ideas is correct. One is not. How will the aftermath of The Incident affect the legacy of the survivors?

In addition, we have a pretty big variable in Charles Widmore (and Eloise Hawking for that matter). We seem to have a good idea on where everyone's allegiances lay except for those two. It would seem that Charles and Ben are on opposing sides. But what does that mean for everyone else. We always thought of Ben as being pro-Jacob, and clearly that's no longer the case. We do know that Ilana's group is pro-Jacob, and from our flashbacks with Miles we saw her group trying to recruit him away from Naomi and the freighter, which we believe to be a group backed by Charles, so does that mean Charles has sided with the Nemesis? But then would that mean Charles and Ben are now on the same side? And how does Eloise Hawking fit? She used to be on the island, was an Other, was involved with Charles, knows of the island's existence, helped get the Oceanic 6 back to the island. Where do her allegiances lie? Much of our exposure to the two of them has been in the past, in the 1950s and 1970s as of late, so they're easy to forget about in present day time. But I believe they are very important characters that will definitely have their say in how things play out in Season 6.

Some questions I'm looking forward to being answered:

-John Locke. He's dead. He's not dead. What's the deal? This is one of the biggest questions out there, fortunately it's one we'll get some answers to. We saw his dead body on the beach. However, we also saw him in some form talking to Jacob at the foot of the statue. What does this mean for the future of John Locke? And on a similar note, what does this tell us about Jacob's Nemesis?

-Is Jacob dead? As I said after the finale, I have a hard time with the idea that Ilana made this trip all the way to the island to find Jacob, only to have him killed minutes before she gets there. Not to mention Jacob didn't really put up much of a fight when the Nemesis showed up with Ben. I don't know if this is all part of Jacob's plan, but there's more to it than that. Jacob's not just dead, and that's it.

-For me, one of the biggest things to come out of the Season 5 finale was the introduction of Jacob's Nemesis. Here we have a brand new character, that we see for only a few minutes, and yet he's the cause of lots and lots of speculation among LOST fans. Who is he? What's his relation to Jacob? What influence has he had on the show so far? Remember, we've been hearing about Jacob since Season 3, even though we've only seen him in one episode. So just because his Nemesis wasn't talked about in the last three seasons, that doesn't mean he wasn't around, wasn't involved.

My Season 3 rewatch was actually helpful in refreshing my memory on Jacob's cabin, and Ben's relationship with Jacob, and what all of this ultimately might mean. We know that Ben has never actually seen, or talked to Jacob, until he killed him. We know that this cabin exists, that Ben knows how to get to, and believes that Jacob is inside of it. Is it Jacob, though, actually inside? Someone in the cabin said to Locke "Help Me". In Season 5, whomever was in the cabin appears to have been released, as we saw the ring of ashes around the cabin was broken, and a note indicating the occupant of the cabin was headed towards the statue. We know that the Nemesis somehow occupied Locke's body, or is manifesting the appearance of Locke's body, and ultimately made its way to the statue to kill Jacob. So what we've got here, is the Nemesis, in the cabin that Ben refers to as "Jacob's" cabin, and somehow escapes from it and takes the form of John Locke to go and kill Jacob. This is all well and good except for one thing that I can't wrap my head around: If Ben has gone on leading the Others for all this time without ever meeting Jacob, without ever talking to Jacob, why does Jacob allow this? Where does Richard play into all of this? He seems to at least know Jacob, knows where he lives, but is he not able to talk to him either? Charles Widmore spoke of Jacob when Ben stole Alex from Rousseau. Did he actually speak to Jacob? If Ben was led astray, why did Jacob not right his path? Aren't the Others supposed to be living their lives according to the will of Jacob?

There are a lot of questions in regards to the relationship between the Others (specifically Ben), Jacob, and his Nemesis, that the finale brought out into the open, and I'm very curious to find out as many of these answers as they're willing to give us.

-What is the smoke monster? Related to this question is Christian, what is his purpose, is he real, is he just a manifestation of the smoke monster, who is he working for? We last saw him down by the donkey wheel with Locke, telling Locke that he had to move the island, and was a catalyst in John getting everyone to come back. However, it would seem that getting John to go back was something that Jacob's Nemesis wanted to happen. So does Christian work for the Nemesis? He said earlier in "Jacob's" cabin that he spoke for Jacob, but does he really? As for the smoke monster, we've seen it performing various tasks on the island. It seemingly has the ability to appear as other people (Yemi, Alex, Christian?, Rousseau's shipmates), but they seem to only be people on the island who are dead. Also, the bodies of those people seem to disappear when they are manifested by the Smoke Monster (Yemi's body was missing when Eko went back to the plane a second time, Christian's coffin was empty when Jack found it). We've also seen it judge people (Eko, Ben), as well as kill people (The pilot of Oceanic 815, the previously mentioned crewmembers of Rousseau's boat). But all that being said, we still don't really know where it came from, what it is, what its ultimate purpose is on the island.

-What about those numbers? I don't know how big of a deal I consider the numbers to be. Really, the one thing I want to know is how they ended up being recorded on the radio tower, since that led to Rousseau arriving on the island, and ultimately led to Hurley winning the lottery. Outside of that? I don't really care about their mysterious origin, or if they have any cosmic significance. I do think they will be addressed again, but I have a hunch that when they are addressed, a lot of people will be disappointed that they weren't more "special".

-What happened to the statue? I previously mentioned the apparent disconnect between Jacob and the Others. I do wonder if the destruction of the statue played any part in that. We really have no idea when the statue was destroyed, we just know it was whole some time in the past, and was not at the time of the plane crash. So there's a pretty wide range of time that encompasses when it may have been destroyed. My theory is that its destruction also marks the last time women were able to give birth on the island (Not really a unique theory since the statue is of Taweret, the Egyptian goddess of childbirth and fertility, so it only makes sense that the statue being destroyed signifies the ability to conceive and give birth also being destroyed), but I also wonder if it goes further, and since it was Jacob's apparent "home", that the statue being destroyed also had repercussions on his relationship with the natives, which is why someone like Ben never actually met Jacob.

-Who are Adam & Eve? It's been hinted that it's Rose & Bernard, but we really don't know for sure, and since Damon & Carlton have been saying all along that the reveal of Adam & Even had some significance tied behind it, this is certainly something that we will find out for sure by the time the show is over. I have no idea who it will be, to be honest. Maybe it's Nikki & Paulo. (Twist~!)

Some questions I'm not expecting answers to:

-What's the deal with Walt? Actually, I'm a little bit more optimistic about this than I was at the end of last season. I think Damon & Carlton were asked about this at Comic-Con, or somewhere, and they hinted at the possibility of being able to wrap up the story on Walt without having the character present. I take this to mean that someone would be able to give us the backstory on why he was considered so special, what the plans were for him, etc., and just leave it at that. I don't know if that will ever take place, but it was nice to hear that the idea hasn't been completely abandoned. As for Malcolm David Kelley, he's done. We're not seeing him again. His appearance last season when Locke was trying to go back to the island was put there solely so that the show could give us some closure on that story.

-What happened with the survivors the Others kidnapped? Why were they taken? Why did they integrate so well with the Others? I'd love to hear more about this. We saw Cindy twice in Season 3, outside the bear cages when Jack was in there, very calm, and accepting of her place with the Others (along with the kids), and later on, when Locke arrived, saying that they've "been waiting for him". So what's the deal? With the kids, I can at least understand them being taken on the basis that they can't have kids on the island, so they could be looking for ways to repopulate the group. Sadly, I don't expect this to ever be mentioned again.

-The food drops. Dharma has been exterminated, I would assume that everyone off the island is aware of this, and yet, we still had food drops land outside of the hatch. And it's never been talked about again. I would love to see something, anything that explains this, but I'm definitely not getting my hopes up.

Other random thoughts:

-Will Sun ever get to see her kid again? It still kills me that she just up and left her daughter in Korea to go back to the island, not knowing when (or if) she'd get back off to see her again.

-Is Claire dead? Actually, I could have thrown this in the first section of questions, but I'm certainly curious to know what exactly happened to Claire. She just randomly wandered off with her father, and we later saw her in "Jacob's" Cabin with Christian. So...is she dead? Can you die from nothing? I never bought the idea that she died when her house exploded in the barracks, that just doesn't make any sense to me. She was still walking around with Aaron after that, how does she just die and is walking around with as a ghost with her baby like nothing happened? I presume we'll see her at some point in time in Season 6, but I have no idea in what capacity. I'm hoping this gets brought up.

-Remember during the time flashes, when Juliet, Sawyer & co. took one of the outriggers they saw on the beach (when they found the Ajira water bottle), and were being shot at by a mysterious group of people in a second outrigger behind them? Anyone curious to know who was in that outrigger? Remember, Juliet shot one of them. I think we might still see this one played out. The Ajira water bottle was a give away that wherever that time flash was, it was in the future. As we saw in present day in Season 5, the Ajira flight landed on the other island, and Ilana's group took the outriggers over to the other island. So it's entirely possible that what we saw in that time flash hasn't yet happened in the present day storyline. I'm actually a little intrigued at the idea of this scene playing out fully next season, with a potential major character death taking place as a result of Juliet's shooting.

-What will ultimately be the fate of Desmond & Penny? Eloise told Desmond that the island wasn't done with him, she told Desmond that her and Penny were not meant to be together, try as he might. So what will Desmond's role be in the final season? We last saw him get shot by Ben and then beat the everloving hell out of him in retaliation, then he was at the hospital getting worked on, where Penny waited for him. Is that the last we'll see of them? I'd like to think not, but I'm also not really sure what direction they could go with them (Even logistically speaking with Sonya Walger having a new show to work on).

Alright, I think I've rambled on enough. I'm sure there are many things I've forgotten to mention, but that's to be expected. Can't wait for the season premiere! As always, thanks for reading.

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Entertainment - LOST Revisited - Season 3 (Part 3)]]>days from the Season 6 premiere of LOST. To say I'm excited would be quite the understatement. I'm quite jealous of all of those people in Hawaii who were able to watch the premiere at the beach over the weekend. To pass the time, I've finished my rewatch of Season 3, and I'll give you my thoughts of what went down the second time around. I'm thinking that this will probably be a tad shorter than my other posts, as I noticed myself taking fewer notes during the episodes. I'm not sure what caused that, although I'm guessing it has something to do with me being totally engrossed in the last handful of episodes including the finale, which was just a great, great string of shows put together. I know I completely underappreciated the quality of the storyline looking back. Locke, and his integration into the Others' camp, the seeds being planted for the ongoing feud between Ben & Locke, Ben clearly disturbed and even jealous at how events are progressing, the attack by the Others on the camp, and the whole ensuing hostage situation at the beach, Charlie's inevitable death, Naomi and the freighter, and of course the flash forwards. So many great moments.

Watching the flash forwards the second time around definitely had a different feel to them, which shouldn't be surprising since I knew what they were and what they meant this time. I made a note about how obivious it is that it was a flash forward, hindsight being 20/20. I mean, what else could it be? I had remembered trying to figure out what it all meant at the time, and noticing little things, like Jack's cell phone looking a little too new, and his mentioning of his father seemed a little off, and the fact that Jack was working at the hospital, but his dad wasn't the chief of surgery, or just Jack's mental state in general. None of it added up, but I just couldn't grasp the concept that we were being shown the future. The reveal of Kate was such a mind blower, and what a terrible, terrible tease to have to saddle us with, completely leaving us in shock with the knowledge that we just saw the future, we know they get off the island, they just showed us the lives of Kate & Jack somewhere down the road, and having absolutely no idea what that means, oh and here's 7 months for you to sit and think about it. Enjoy. Brutal.

A recurring thought I had during all of this was how much I missed certain characters, namely Sun and Sayid. As we all know, when everyone got off the island, their lives in the ensuing three years haven't exactly been great. Jack ruined his relationship with Kate, drinks too much, and in general seems to be miserable. Kate had to leave Sawyer behind, and while she probably got the best of it, being exonerated for her crimes, she's still left with the burden of caring for Aaron and doesn't seem to really enjoy her life. Sayid married the love of his life, only to have her be killed, and then spiraled further downward by becoming a hitman for Ben. Hurley talks to dead people from the island, and went back to the mental institution. Sun had her baby, but has to live her life believing that Jin died when the freighter exploded. Bad times all around. Sayid has never recovered, as he didn't really want to go back to the island to begin with, and since Nadia died, he's really had nothing to live for, and just seems to be going through the motions (If he's even still alive). And Sun, while we know her to have a bit of a mean streak in her, she's seemingly become this cold character based on her interactions with both her father and Charles Widmore in various flashbacks/forwards, and everything about her that made her screen time with Jin some of the most memorable in the entire show, is just missing completely. I'm hoping that in Season 6 she will be reunited with Jin and that we can get some of that back, because it was really great to watch in Season 3, and it just hasn't been there in the past two season.

Some other quick hits:

-I wasn't blogging about LOST during Season 3's original airing, and perhaps I wasn't as obsessive about it yet, but I noticed during "Catch-22" that when Desmond is turning in his...robe? to the head monk (Sorry, I'm not knowledgeable about monastery terminology), there's a picture on his desk of him and Eloise Hawking.

Now, obviously this is a poor Photoshop job, but that's not the point. This could be nothing more than playing off of the episode earlier in the season with Eloise and Desmond, but it's certainly interesting that Desmond just happens to meet Penny at the monk's suggestion that he help her load up some cases of wine before he leaves.

-Random question, do Desmond's flashes of the future stop once he gets off the island? We don't see much of him in Seasons 4 or 5, and we see him having some temporal displacement issues when he does leave the island (no doubt due to his proximity during the hatch implosion), but once he gets all of that fixed by talking to Penny, is that it? Is he doing seeing into the future? Something they've never really brought up one way or the other, just curious to know.

-Great line by Mikhail after he helps fix Naomi's lung which was punctured by a branch, and claims that she should be better in about a day. After an incredulous reply by the survivors: "On this island the wounds are a bit different. Maybe a day and a half."

-Thought it was somewhat telling that the writers chose Cindy to utter the line "We've been waiting for you" when Locke shows up to the Others' camp.

-I'm convinced that Richard's "shaggy" look that he has when young Ben wanders into the jungle and meets Richard was just a decision the writers went with, and later changed their mind on when they went forward with the storyline in 1954 and 1977. It really makes no sense, that at that one and only point in time, Richard has long hair, and hasn't shaved in a while, and in every other scene, he looks the same. I've thought way too much about this, and that's the decision I've come up with. I know this will help you sleep better at night.

-Speaking of possible writing mistakes, still wondering about Desmond's vision of seeing Claire and Aaron on the helicopter. I've got a few different ideas on this one. For starters, Desmond screwed everything up by constantly saving Charlie's life anyways. Also, maybe Desmond saw Aaron, not Claire, and just assumed Claire was on the helicopter as well. Or, perhaps Desmond made it all up, and told Charlie that so that he would do what is necessary for Desmond to finally see Penny again. Or maybe we may yet see Claire and Aaron on a helicopter next season. Or maybe the writers just screwed up. I'm still undecided on this one.

-I'm a big fan of Michael Giacchino's music, particularly on LOST, as I'm sure most of us on. By far, his "traveling" music that he loves to play when the Losties are off on a road trip (In this case, their trek to the radio tower) is my favorite. It just has such a great feel to it, and really captures the idea that they're all off on a crazy adventure.

-Knowing what I know now, Ben really leans on "Jacob" as a crutch quite a bit in Season 3. He justifies everything as "this is what Jacob wants." Of course, everyone pretty much believes him (except Locke), so if it's that effective, hey, why not go with it, right?

-Oh Walt. Sigh. He was about 19 when he told Locke to get out of the pit of dead Dharma folks. I'm still convinced it was a contractual issue, or maybe Malcolm David Kelley just didn't want to act anymore, or something like that, otherwise they would have worked him in somehow. On the bright side, Carlton and Damon have hinted that there may be a way to resolve the Walt storyline without using the character, basically putting together a backstory that will explain what the big fuss was with Walt once and for all, so I'm optimistic.

-Sawyer shooting Tom right in the chest after he surrenders? COLD. No one else pulls that off but Sawyer. Not even Sayid. Actually, Sayid shot an unarmed 13-year old kid in the chest, maybe he can pull that off as well.

-Ben had an interesting line, that getting off the island was "the beginning of the end". Was he talking about himself? Those who get off the island? The island itself? Was he right?

That'll about do it for my Season 3 re-watch. I'm putting the finishing touches on my "preview" column for Season 6, which will probably go up Monday, and then expect to see my thoughts on the season premiere (!!!!) on Wednesday. Thanks for reading.

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Site Update - Photos of Old Chicago]]>

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Random - Fun and Learning with Bank of America]]>"This check deposited to your account was returned unpaid. Please contact the maker of the check for more information."

Okay, so I contacted the person that wrote me the check, and they checked with their bank, and the bank had no notice of any problems with the check being processed. No answers so far. Next, I call my bank, to see if I can get some kind of explanation. Finally, I learn that the check was not processed because it was written out to both myself and Melissa, but I was the only one that signed it, so it was being returned to me so that she could sign it and I could re-deposit it.

Now, under normal circumstances this sounds like a plausible explanation. I have a few problems with this reasoning, however.

-First, Melissa is not listed on my checking account. We still keep separate bank accounts, so I fail to understand how her signature makes my deposit any more valid than if she doesn't sign it. She's not on the account, so it shouldn't matter. And it's not like they were asking here to sign the check over to me, they just wanted her to endorse it, just like I do with any check I want to deposit into my account.

-Second, this is not the first time I've deposited a check that is made out to both Melissa and myself. And I know that Melissa has deposited more than one check with both of our names on it that I have not signed (She too, has a Bank of America checking account). Let's take our wedding, for example. We had a number of checks to deposit into my account at the time, and they pretty much all had both of our names on them. We didn't both sign them, though. Yet there was no problem in them going through. So what's so different this time? Why is this check oh so special?

-Finally, the reasoning on their site as to why the check was returned is misleading and flat out wrong. The check was returned unpaid, "please contact the maker of the check for more information". The maker of the check? The maker of the check doesn't know anything about this because there was no problem on their end. The problem lies solely with the fact that BofA thinks the check was endorsed incorrectly, which means it's a problem with the person depositing the check. So why send your customer on a wild goose chase trying to solve this problem and having them look in the wrong place?

But hey, look at the bright side. At least I solved my mail problem so that when they deliver my returned check I'll actually get it.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=311
Random - Fun and Learning with the US Post Office]]>Well, at least in theory that's how it works. I've known this since I was a child, and yet, in all my years I've never actually seen this guideline actually enforced. I've lived in a number of different residences, and have received multiple pieces of mail from the prior tenants, and at no time have I ever informed the Post Office that I was now the current tenant (aside from filling out a mail forwarding form online). So to me, I always assumed that this instruction was simply a guideline, similar to the idea that putting your full ZIP code (ZIP+4) on your piece of mail would help ensure its delivery.

Apparently not. A few months ago, the postal worker for our building posted a sign indicating that mail delivered to our building must be addressed with the correct name and unit number, otherwise it will not be delivered. I didn't pay much attention to this notice, as we had always received our mail without problem, and I always indicated our unit number when ordering anything online. Well, our problems first started when we heard from a few people that the Christmas card they had sent us had been returned. We also noticed that we were not getting mail on a daily basis, although given the quality of the Chicago postal system and busyness of the holidays, I just chalked it up to a temporary issue.

Well, fast-forward to January, and in addition to the returned Christmas cards, we start having magazines and packages returned as undeliverable. I contacted the Post Office, and they opened up an "investigation" as to why our mail was not being delivered. I think I'm supposed to hear something from them about that today or tomorrow. Well, as fate would have it, our postal worker was in the middle of delivering our mail when I got home from work today, so when I opened up our box, I ended up having a conversation with our postal worker instead. She showed me that on the back of our box, it says "Cobb", not "Maloney" (I though I remembered seeing one of our old mail forwarding labels on there before, but that could have just been one of our old apartments I was thinking of). Because of that, our mail was being returned and marked as undeliverable. So all I need to do is put a label on the back of the box with our last name, and voila, problem solved.

I can only assume that this must be a recent change in the enforcement of what is actually considered a properly addressed piece of mail, as we must have been receiving our mail just fine for the past year and a half with the wrong name on the back of our mailbox. On the bright side, perhaps this means we won't get any more mail addressed to our former tenants. Would be nice.

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Entertainment - LOST Revisited - Season 3 (Part 2)]]>finally comes back on the air(!!!), I wanted to finish up my rewatching of Season 3, as well as get back into the swing of things as far as writing goes (My last legitimate blog post was two months ago? Yikes). I was able to find some time over the holidays to watch episodes 9-16, and my plan is to spend the remainder of my day off today watching the last 7 episodes of the season, and get a recap of those done some time in the next week or so.

If you want to read up on any of the details of any of the episodes from Season 3, I'd do a quick scan of what Wikipedia has to say. I went on there to do a little research, because I remember there being some criticism surrounding some of the episodes in Season 3, due to their generally pointless storylines and flashbacks that had little-to-nothing to do with anything on the show. Looking back, this was a result of the producers, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, having to tread water with the show, as this was before an official end date had been given. I read an article from the Washington Post back in January 2007 that discusses the idea going around that the producers were in the process of negotiating and end date with ABC, and then from the New York Times on May 8, 2007, when the end date was officially announced. So what does all this mean? Well, for starters, it means episodes like "Stranger in a Strange Land" (Jack in Thailand flashbacks), or "Tricia Tanaka is Dead" (Hurley's feel good episode with the abandoned VW van) were almost certainly created knowing full well that the writers had to kill time and draw out the show, coming up with whatever they could to give the show a longer shelf life. Damon and Carlton have an arc that the show is supposed to follow, but without knowing when the show is going to end, it makes it hard to be able to continue along that arc at the pace you might want. It also resulted in some characters showing up that, in retrospect, probably weren't such a good idea. I am talking about Nikki & Paulo, of course.

Granted, the fact that everyone watching the show hated them probably didn't add much to their longevity on the show, but I think the ultimate death blow was the decision to finalize an end date and move forward with the story. The end date of the show was first discussed in January, Nikki & Paulo met their demise on an episode in March ("Exposé"), and on top of that, the overall story on the show started to pick up right around that time as well, with Mikhail, the sub, the Others leaving the barracks, Juliet joining the survivors, Naomi, etc.

While we're on the topic of Nikki & Paulo, I might as well get my thoughts out on them now. Their introduction to the show was quite awkward, as we all know. Much worse than when Dr. Arzt made his ill-timed debut. After two seasons, we have a pretty good idea of who our main survivors are on the show. Characters are coming and going all the time on the show, which I totally understand, but as far as actual people from flight 815, we've got our group of people that everyone cares about. So when Nikki & Paulo just sort of start showing up and interjecting themselves into scenes, having dialogue with the main castaways, it just felt forced. If anything, they come across as Boone & Shannon replacements. Only none of us really care what they have to say, we just want them to fade into the background where they came from, and go away. If they were really worthwhile characters, they would have done something noteworthy on the island by now. So yeah, bad move by the writers. Again, I understand why they did it, because they had to sustain the show, but the whole idea really fell flat on its face.

...that being said, everything I just said was completely redeemed by the episode "Exposé". I remember the first time watching it, and I was honestly a little shocked at how it all went down. Just like that, Nikki & Paulo were dead, and not only that, but they way they died was just...awesome. But watching it a second time, what a truly fantastic episode. It became very clear to me that the writers were basically admitting that the whole Nikki & Paulo idea was a stellar failure, and decided to have as much fun with it as they possibly could. The whole episode is so over-the-top, I loved it. It played out like a big goofy murder mystery episode, and then on top of that, the writers pulled a Forrest Gump and used the flashbacks to throw Nikki & Paulo into numerous important scenes from the history of the show, just to really hammer home the point that, yes, these people were actually around since the beginning, and have actually done some pretty cool things. For example, did you know that Nikki & Paulo found the Pearl before Locke did? They're just that good. Paulo also sees Juliet before anyone else. They're also shown at the initial crash, with everyone else during Jack's "Live Together, Die Alone" speech, meeting Ethan, among other flashbacks. As long as you aren't taking any of it seriously it's all quite amusing. And their death? Outstanding. Getting buried alive has to be one of the more morbid ways to go, but to be intentionally buried alive by your peers who simply mistake you for dead? Hell of a way to go. Not as laugh out loud funny as Arzt exploding, or Tricia Tanaka getting hit by a meteor, but still one of the best deaths on the show.

I actually don't have any other large scale items to talk about, so here are some quick hits:

-Saw Cindy (the flight attendant) in Episode 9, along with the kids. I really wish we could see them again, or know what the story is with them, what they were told or what was done to them to make them so amenable to living with the Others. I honestly haven't thought about them in a while until I saw them in that episode.

-It's too bad those Thailand flashbacks were so terrible, because I did think the meaning behind Jack's tattoo was interesting. "You are a great man; a leader. But it makes you alone, and frightened, and angry" or as interpreted by Isabel, the Others' sheriff, "He walks amongst us, but he is not one of us".

-Something else to file away in the "will never be explained nor brought up again" files: After Juliette killed Danny, Ben spared her from being put to death, but she was "marked", or branded, on her back, with a marking, that looked like an asterisk. Never talked about again. Too bad.

-Is Karl an orphan? Are his parents dead or something? No one seems to like this kid or what happens to him, I feel bad for him.

-Weird to see Claire in an episode, just because I feel like it's been forever since she's been on the show.

-I know people hated on "Tricia Tanaka is Dead" because it was such a pointless episode, the main plot point was Hurley risking death to get a 30 year old VW bus up and running. I still think it's somewhat charming, and I am glad that they were able to work in the significance of Roger, and the van into Dharma lore in later flashbacks.

-Think we'll ever find out definitively if Mikhail's dead? I mean, the guy did basically blow himself up with a grenade, but he also had his brains fried by the EM fence, and was shot with a harpoon, and seemed to recover just fine from those. Interesting thing to note regarding the food drops. We saw the one food drop after the crash, I don't know that we saw another one after that. On a separate note, when Locke, Said, Kate, and Rousseau came across Mikhail and the Flame station, Locke was on the computer, and discovered some commands that he could enter into the system, including his eventual blowing up of the station. But one of the options was a food drop. Makes me wonder if the Flame controlled the food drops for the Swan. Still doesn't answer the question of where the food drops were coming from, since Dharma had been wiped out on the island, but it's just a little wrinkle in the whole process that I had forgotten about.

-Do we know how Claire's mom recovered from the car crash? As far as I know, the last time we see her, she's in a coma, Claire's visiting her right before she leaves for L.A., and then the next time we see her is at Christian's funeral after the Oceanic Six get off the island. It could just be that she woke up from her coma, but at the time it didn't seem like that was likely, but I couldn't remember if her recovery was ever brought up again.

-Quite the string of events in this grouping of episodes: Ben has surgery, Jack & Juliet are set to leave the island, Locke shows up at the Others' camp, Ben "obtains" Locke's father, Locke blows up the submarine, is introduced to his father, decides to stay with the Others, the Others leave the barracks, and Kate & Juliet get left behind.

-Evangeline Lilly is tiny. I saw her height listed as 5'6" or 5'7" somewhere, but I also read that Elizabeth Mitchell's only 5'9", and she towers over Lilly in some scenes. I guess I never realized how small she was.

-"Left Behind" has an underrated aspect to it. Hurley sets up Sawyer by telling him everyone was thinking of banishing Sawyer from camp for his general attitude and selfishness (not true). But it forces Sawyer to try and help others, and act the part of leader, something he was sort of expected to do with Jack and Locke gone from camp. It's good foreshadowing for later on, when he sort of takes charge of the group left on the island after the island moves.

-Something else I hope gets explained this season is regarding the reason behind Juliet's presence on the island. I know that pregnant women were dying, and Juliet was brought in because she "created life, where life wasn't supposed to be." While I understand that, there's still the explanation regarding why this happens to begin with. It's not the way things have always been on the island, something occurred to cause this change, and we need to know what it was. If I had to guess, I'd say the destruction of the four-toed statue and the inability to reproduce on the island happened at right around the same time.

-I do think this set of episodes brought us our first reference of Jacob as a person. I don't think he had been brought up before now. Interesting that it took three and a half seasons for him to be mentioned.

That'll do it for me. I'll have the third installment of my Season 3 Revisited thoughts up some time before Season 6 premieres, and I'd like to also to a quick rundown of where we're at heading into the season, some things we know, along with some things we'd like to know by the time May rolls around. Thanks for reading.

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Sports - Breaking Down the BCS #2]]>Originally posted on The Sports Oratory

It's been a little chaotic the past couple of weeks, so it's as good a time as any to revisit the postseason landscape, see who's up, and who's down, and who will be playing where come January. First, let's take a look at the Top 14 BCS teams as of week 12:

ACC - Not much has changed in the ACC. Georgia Tech has broken into the BCS Top 10, and has locked up a spot in the ACC Championship game. In the Atlantic, Clemson (7-3) needs only to dispatch of Virginia (3-7) to secure its own place in the Championship game. The winner will move onto the Orange Bowl, which could have some ramifications on the BCS selection process, but we'll discuss that more later. Aside from Tech and Clemson, Boston College, Virginia Tech, Miami, and North Carolina have all punched their tickets to the post season with 7 wins so far. Florida State and Duke need to win one of their last two games to become bowl eligible. Meanwhile, Wake Forest, North Carolina State, Maryland, and Virginia have all been eliminated from bowl eligibility.

Big XII - Texas continues to run in cruise control atop the Big XII South. A win against Kansas (5-5) would guarantee them a spot in the Big XII Championship in two weeks. Meanwhile, Nebraska has emerged as the top contender in the Big XII North, although a showdown Saturday against second place Kansas State (6-5) will determine who will represent the North. For Kansas State, it truly is an all or nothing game, for despite their 6 wins, only 5 of them count towards bowl eligibility, so if they lose to Nebraska, not only do they lose a shot at the Big XII title, they also will fail to qualify for a bowl game. Oklahoma State is still vying for an at large spot in a BCS bowl, after a win against Colorado Thursday night, they sit one game away from finishing 10-2 and most likely in the Top 14, making them a potentially attractive team for the Fiesta Bowl, which has ties to the Big XII. Unfortunately for them, in order to finish 10-2, they have to go win at Norman against Oklahoma, which is never an easy task regardless of the overall record of the Sooners (They currently hold a 24 game home winning streak). Iowa State, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech have also qualified for the postseason, with Kansas, Texas A&M, and Baylor fighting to reach 6 wins. Colorado has already been eliminated from bowl contention.

Big East - The Big East is making a conscious effort to play games late into the season, so they are not overshadowed by conferences with championship games the last week of the season (Big XII, SEC, ACC), so their top three teams are all off this week. Cincinnati and Pittsburgh are still headed for a collision in two weeks to determine the conference champion, after Cincy's win over West Virginia last weekend eliminated them from contention. Cincinnati is on the outside looking in for a shot at the National Championship, and would need a slip up from Texas to realistically have a shot. Most likely, either Pitt or the Bearcats will wind up in one of the other BCS games, with Cincinnati holding a small possibility as an at large team should Pittsburgh win the conference. West Virginia and Rutgers will join them for a bowl game, while South Florida, UConn, and Louisville will fight it out to see who can become eligible. Syracuse was eliminated with their loss last weekend.

Big Ten - Iowa's luck ran out and then some, going from 9-0 to 9-2 and hoping for an at large berth in a BCS game after getting beaten soundly by Ohio State and Northwestern in back-to-back games. Speaking of the Buckeyes, Ohio State, despite all the early criticism, has managed to once again win the Big 10 conference, and punched their ticket to Pasadena with their win over Iowa. Along with Iowa, Penn State is sitting at 9-2 and is just inside the Top 14 in the BCS standings, also hoping for an at large bid. Wisconsin looks to be the odd man out at 8-2, and would need slip ups by the previous two teams to be considered for a BCS bowl. Michigan State, Northwestern, and Minnesota will all go bowling this year, while Purdue, Illinois and Indiana will sit at home, and Michigan is stuck with the tough task of upsetting the Buckeyes this weekend to avoid sitting home for consecutive postseasons.

Pac 10 - Things were so much simpler when it was just USC winning the Pac-10 ever year. This year, with only a few weeks to play, the top 4 teams are all still in serious contention to win the conference and head to the Rose Bowl. Oregon and Arizona still control their own destiny, if they win out, they win the conference. They will play each other this weekend, and the winner will get a big step up on the competition to head to Pasadena. Oregon State still has something to say in all of this, as they still have a game with Oregon to end the season. Finally, you have the unlikely team in Stanford, who is sitting pretty at 6-2, but still has a shot at the title depending on how things play out. The conference is very much up for grabs with USC out of the picture. Speaking of USC, they, along with California, will also be heading to some kind of bowl. Washington and Washington State will be staying home, and UCLA and Arizona State have two more games to prove their worth.

SEC - Alabama and Florida are gearing up to meet in the SEC Championship game. Both have locked their spots in the game, and just have to ensure that they finish the regular season undefeated to guarantee the winner a spot in the National Championship. Florida State will try and interrupt the Gators season next weekend, while Auburn will try and ruin the Tide's season. Aside from that, Vanderbilt will not be playing in December thanks to its 0-7 conference record. Tennessee has two chances to get to six wins, while Mississippi State has a tough task needing to beat Arkansas and Ole Miss to get to a bowl game. Everyone else is in, Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Auburn, and Arkansas.

The Rest - Notre Dame went down for the count last weekend with a loss against Navy. No BCS game for them this year. TCU overcame its largest obstacle of the season with a 55-28 beatdown of Utah last weekend, and can now coast to a bowl game with wins over Wyoming and New Mexico. Boise State is also in good shape to finish the season undefeated, with easy games against Utah State and New Mexico State, and a tough test in the form of high octane Nevada. Other than that, with Houston's loss to UCF and the afore mentioned Utah loss to TCU, there are no other potential BCS busters for the year.

BCS Projected Matchups

Let's take a quick look at how the BCS is shaping up as of this week. A few rules regarding BCS selection to keep in mind:

-#1 and #2 in the final BCS rankings play for the National Championship, no exceptions.
-BCS Bowls have the following conference champion affiliations:
Rose (Pac 10 vs. Big 10)
Sugar (SEC)
Fiesta (Big XII)
Orange (ACC)
-If a BCS bowl loses its champion to the National Championship game, they are allowed to select a replacement (The bowl that loses the #1 team selects first, the bowl that loses the #2 team selects second)
-A non-BCS team can auto-qualify for a BCS spot by finishing in the Top 14 of the BCS rankings
-Any teams that are ranked in the Top 14 but do not auto-qualify can be selected as an "at large" team
-Notre Dame can auto-qualify for a BCS spot by finishing in the Top 8
-Remaining bowl selections are made in order of the bowl closest to the National Championship game to the game furthest (by date). This year, that means the selection order is: Orange (Jan. 5), Fiesta (Jan. 4), Sugar (Jan. 1)
-No more than 2 teams from the same conference may play in a BCS bowl game

Nothing has changed in our projections for the National Championship. Barring major collapse, it will be:

Texas vs. Winner of Alabama/Florida

That means the Sugar Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl will be without host teams, so they will select replacement teams first. Let's assume that the SEC team had the #1 BCS ranking, and therefore gets to select first. They will select the loser of the Alabama/Florida game, to maintain the SEC status quo for their bowl. Now, here's where it gets interesting. The Fiesta Bowl selection really affects how everything else plays out. Here are the teams they can choose from:

Now, during a normal year, if the Big XII champion was in the NC game, you could just take the #2 team, which is most likely Oklahoma or Texas. However, with Oklahoma having a down year, Oklahoma State is (currently) the #2 team. If they manage to upset Oklahoma in Norman, they could prove to be too valuable to the Fiesta Bowl to pass up. While they are not a great draw for the rest of the country, there is some obligation there from the Fiesta Bowl to maintain its relationship with the Big XII. I think, however, the bowl will be secretly rooting for Okie State to lose, so that it be free from its Big XII obligation, and can select a Big 10 team instead, let's say Penn State. With Penn State (and the Big 10 off the table), the Orange Bowl will have to select from the remaining teams (Cincy, TCU, BSU, Pitt) to fill its slot. This is where interesting scenario #2 presents itself. Georgia Tech is the most likely team to come out of the ACC. However, should Clemson pull out the win and head to Miami, this all but eliminates TCU from Orange Bowl contention, as the two already faced each other in the regular season, and the bowl will not want to repeat that matchup. For the sake of projections, however, let's assume that Georgia Tech does in fact win the ACC. I believe that the Orange Bowl will want to shy away from an ACC/Big East matchup, because they represent the two lowest rated BCS games in history (Last year's Virginia Tech/Cincinnati game, as well as a prior Orange Bowl matchup between Louisville and Wake Forest). The only reason I can see them going with a Big East team is travel concerns with a team like TCU. But I still think at the end of the day TCU is the best option for them, making your Orange Bowl matchup:

Georgia Tech vs. TCU

The Fiesta Bowl now has to pick between Cincinnati, Boise State, and Pittsburgh as its second opponent. This is actually a tough spot for Boise State, as a Pitt/Penn State matchup provides a great in-state rivalry matchup. However, since I think Pitt's best chance to play in a BCS game is to win the Big East, and I don't think they will beat Cincinnati, I think that will eliminate them from contention. That leaves Boise State in Phoenix as an infinitely more attractive option than Cincinnati, making the Fiesta Bowl matchup:

Penn State vs. Boise State

And in the Sugar Bowl we have:

Alabama vs. Cincinnati

with Ohio State vs. Oregon in the Rose Bowl. It's funny how things work out. A couple weeks ago I thought Boise was a HUGE long shot to make it to a BCS game. But then their main competition, Notre Dame, USC, and Miami, all dropped out, and now Boise's only real competition is a potential at large team in either Oklahoma State or Pittsburgh. The bowl picture is definitely becoming a lot more clearer, and we'll have to see what kind of upsets we're in store for in the last few weeks of the season and how they might affect the pecking order. That's all for this week, thanks for reading.

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Sports - Breaking Down the BCS]]>Originally posted on The Sports Oratory

As November is upon us, the world of college football starts to take shape. Teams have now played a handful of conference games, and we start to get an idea of who will be playing in January, who will be playing in December, and who will be staying home.

What I would like to do over the next month is take a look at the postseason landscape in the college football world, with some emphasis on the BCS bowls and the possible matchups we may be seeing come January.

ACC - Georgia Tech is in the drivers seat in the ACC-Coastal, with Clemson (5-3) holding top position in the ACC-Atlantic. Both have winnable schedules the rest of the way, which would result in a rematch from week 2 that saw Georgia Tech edge out Clemson 30-27 at home. This is a tough year for the ACC, which had fairly good results out of conference; unfortunately no team has really taken control during conference play, and as a result 10 of the 12 teams in the conference currently have 3 or more losses. Regardless of which team ends up winning the ACC, the conference has no national title aspirations, and at this point an at large BCS berth for a second ACC team is looking like a very remote possibility. Look for the ACC champ to take its place in the Orange Bowl on January 5th, and the other teams will fill out the conferences other bowl obligations (Chick-fil-A, Gator, Champs Sports, Emerald, Meineke, Music City, EagleBank, GMAC). The conference is far too jumbled right now to predict who will play where, but as of right now none of the 12 teams are bowl ineligible, so it's still possible for the conference to fill its 9 slots.

Big XII - With Alabama on a bye week last weekend, Texas overtook them as the #2 team in the country, and controls its own destiny for a spot in the BCS National Championship game. With a relatively light schedule before the Big XII title game (vs. UCF, @ Baylor, vs. Kansas, @ Texas A&M), it would take a considerable upset for Texas to not finish in the BCS Top 2 at the end of the season. However, after Texas the conference drops off, with #19 Oklahoma State the only other team with less than 3 losses. This is another conference that will struggle to get an at large team into the BCS, with Oklahoma State the only team with small chance at making it (Although even then a number of things would have to happen for it to even be a possibility). The Big XII North is currently headed up by Kansas State (5-4, 3-2) and Nebraska (5-3, 2-2), with the two teams possibly headed for a winner-take-all showdown in the final game before the Big XII Championship. Right now there are 10 teams in the conference with at least 5 wins, so the conference is likely to fill its bowl slots (Cotton, Holiday, Alamo, Sun, Insight, Independence, Texas).

Big East - Despite Cincinnati's Top 5 BCS ranking, this conference is still very much up for grabs, with none of the top 3 teams (Cincy, Pittsburgh, West Virginia) having played each other yet. All three teams can still earn a trip to a BCS bowl by winning the remainder of their games. Right now Cincinnati is the conference's only shot at a chance in the National Championship game, although right now they are on the outside looking in at #5, and would likely need to see some upsets above them to get a shot at the title. Part of the problem with the top 3 teams not yet having faced each other is that it makes it more difficult for the Big East to send a second team to the BCS as an at large bid. If Cincinnati wins out, #13 Pittsburgh may fall far enough off the radar that they will not be eligible for an at large bid. West Virginia has no shot with 2 losses, it's either Big East title or bust for them. Cincinnati is really the only possible at large team of the bunch, should Pitt or WVU beat them and they finish with 1 loss, they could stay within the Top 14 at the end of the season and remain eligible for an at large spot. Other teams in the conference with 6 wins are South Florida and Rutgers, both probably headed to bowl games. The other three, UConn, Louisville, and Syracuse, will have a tougher time getting to six wins and finding a bowl to play in.

Big Ten - Iowa has defied the odds thus far and remained undefeated at 9-0 and a #4 spot in the BCS rankings, thanks to wins over Arizona, Penn State, and Wisconsin. They have one more hurdle between them and a conference championship in the form of #16 Ohio State next weekend. However, like Cincinnati, they too are currently on the outside looking in for a shot at the national title. It will be difficult for them to jump into the title mix without an unexpected loss from above. Despite an unblemished mark in conference play, Ohio State and Penn State both have a chance to claim a conference title as well. At the very least, expect two of these three teams to end up playing in BCS bowls. With a key matchup this weekend in Ohio State/Penn State, the winner moves into prime position for an at large bid, if not a shot at the Big Ten title. Other expected bowl eligible teams in the Big Ten will be Wisconsin and Minnesota, with Northwestern, Michigan, Michigan State, and Indiana also trying to reach 6 wins.

Pac 10 - After Oregon's crushing win over USC last weekend, they are now in the drivers seat for the conference title and a trip to the Rose Bowl. At #8 and with 1 loss, Oregon has virtually no shot at reaching the title game, so their fate is most directly tied to a game in a couple weeks against #18 Arizona (5-2, 3-1), with the winner most likely earning a shot to play in Pasadena. Depending on how things play out, the Pac-10 could earn an at large bid to a BCS game. The two most likely possibilities would be Oregon, should they lose to Arizona, or USC, should they win out. USC is currently #12, and would remain eligible for a bid if they were to finish at 10-2. Arizona would probably drop too far with a loss to Oregon to be considered after that, so they either need to focus on the conference title, or nothing. Along with those teams, Cal is bowl eligible, with Oregon State and Stanford attempting to become eligible as well.

SEC - Of all the conferences, the SEC has the most going for it at the moment. Two teams in the Top 3 of the BCS standings (Florida, Alabama), all but assured two teams in the BCS this year, as well as one team in the National Championship barring some sort of catastrophe. Florida and Alabama are currently on a collision course for the SEC Championship game, with the winner heading onto the National Championship, and the loser heading to the Sugar Bowl to take on an at large team. The big x-factor that can throw a wrench into this whole mess is #9 LSU. With a huge game looming against Alabama this weekend, a win by LSU would give them a shot in the SEC Championship game, and a win in that against likely Florida team could result in a spot in the National Championship game, depending on how the polls react. After those three, South Carolina and Auburn are bowl eligible, and after that there is a huge logjam among Ole Miss, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia to try and get to 6 wins and postseason play.

The Rest - First up you've got Notre Dame, sitting at 6-2 and #22 in the BCS standings. Notre Dame will most likely have to win out (and convincingly) to have any kind of shot at a BCS game (vs. Navy, @ #13 Pitt, vs. UConn, @ Stanford). Then you have #6 TCU, who appears to be the favorite to lock up a BCS spot if they win their final 4 games (@ SDSU, vs. Utah, @ Wyoming, vs. New Mexico). After TCU is #7 Boise State, the other non-BCS team trying to find its way into a BCS bowl. If TCU finishes the season undefeated as well, and ranked ahead of Boise, BSU will have to hope for an at-large bid. Other non-BCS teams include Utah and Houston, however both of those teams would need considerable help from TCU and BSU to be in contention for a BCS bowl.

BCS Projected Matchups

Let's take a quick look at how the BCS is shaping up as of this week. A few rules regarding BCS selection to keep in mind:

-#1 and #2 in the final BCS rankings play for the National Championship, no exceptions.
-BCS Bowls have the following conference champion affiliations:
Rose (Pac 10 vs. Big 10)
Sugar (SEC)
Fiesta (Big XII)
Orange (ACC)
-If a BCS bowl loses its champion to the National Championship game, they are allowed to select a replacement (The bowl that loses the #1 team selects first, the bowl that loses the #2 team selects second)
-A non-BCS team can auto-qualify for a BCS spot by finishing in the Top 14 of the BCS rankings
-Any teams that are ranked in the Top 14 but do not auto-qualify can be selected as an "at large" team
-Notre Dame can auto-qualify for a BCS spot by finishing in the Top 8
-Remaining bowl selections are made in order of the bowl closest to the National Championship game to the game furthest (by date). This year, that means the selection order is: Orange (Jan. 5), Fiesta (Jan. 4), Sugar (Jan. 1)
-No more than 2 teams from the same conference may play in a BCS bowl game

Okay, so based on what we know as of right now, Texas is the most likely team to end up in the National Championship game. They will most likely face the winner of Florida/Alabama, who are headed towards a game against each other in the SEC Championship. So, let's say that our National Championship will look like this:

Texas vs. Winner of Alabama/Florida

That means the Sugar Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl will be without host teams, so they will select replacement teams first. Let's assume that the SEC team had the #1 BCS ranking, and therefore gets to select first. They will select the loser of the Alabama/Florida game, to maintain the SEC status quo for their bowl. The Fiesta Bowl, however, will probably not have a second Big XII team to fall back on, so they will have to look elsewhere among the other eligible teams. As of right now, the list of teams would look like this (List of eligible teams will change as the season goes on):

Out of all these teams, I think Penn State shows the most promise; the Big Ten is known for traveling well, and has a good following. USC makes the most sense location-wise, but there may not be as much interest from the school to play in a non-Rose Bowl game, which could hurt their reputation among the BCS bowls. So, with our replacements selected, we will now fill out the remaining open slots. First up is the Orange Bowl, which currently has Georgia Tech as its other team. This is a tough selection for the Orange Bowl, which has to be hoping that a Miami or a Notre Dame will somehow find their way into eligibility, because Cincinnati/Georgia Tech is not a strong matchup, nor is TCU/Georgia Tech, plus TCU is not a good match as far as location goes. USC is a very tough matchup from a location standpoint; however I think that the Orange Bowl figures that this gives them the best TV ratings out of the teams available, and hopes that the team will travel, so our Orange Bowl looks like this:

Georgia Tech vs. USC

The Fiesta Bowl is next, and they now have to choose between Cincinnati and TCU, as both teams have to be selected to a game, and there are only two slots left (Sorry, I just realized I never mentioned the Rose Bowl, which is Iowa vs. Oregon, given that neither team will play for the National Championship). Cincinnati was a relative dud in its bowl game with Virginia Tech last year, so I have to think that bowls are wary of selecting them again, particularly a bowl that's all the way in Arizona. TCU isn't exactly a ratings monster either, but the location makes a lot more sense, and because of that I think the Fiesta Bowl selects TCU setting up:

Penn State vs. TCU

And in the Sugar Bowl we have:

Alabama vs. Cincinnati

It should be interesting to see how these matchups change if teams are upset, and the order of teams moves around, leading to different title contenders, different bowl openings, as well as potentially new teams becoming eligible, like Ohio State, Miami, Oklahoma State, or Notre Dame.

That's all for this week, join me next time as we see how the landscape has changed and we see whose fortunes have risen and whose have fallen. Thanks for reading.

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Personal - Lack of Blogging]]>My brother. Melissa and I invited my little brother down to stay with us over the summer. He was here from the end of June until the first week in August. I enjoyed having him down, he's a good kid. It's funny, he actually reminds me a lot of me, which is a little strange since I'm the oldest sibling, and he's the youngest, almost 12 years younger than me. But we seem to share similar interests (video games, endlessly quoting movies), have a similar sense of humor, and he seems to have that drive for academics that I had in school (he definitely shares my love for procrastination). Looking at photos of us as kids, we probably looked the most alike, too. Kind of funny how that works.

An unanticipated side effect of him staying with us was that I didn't find myself with a lot of time to myself. Part of that was due to the fact that we live in a one bedroom condo, so there isn't much space to yourself when you're trying to fit three people in there. Another part of it was that the kid was already spending his weekdays by himself, and while I'm sure he enjoyed filling his days with Grand Theft Auto and Mass Effect, I felt like I should try and give him my attention when I got home from work. Don't get me wrong, it was great having him here, it was just the way things worked out.

UFC Undisputed. This game has been such a time waster for me that I still haven't put together my blog post with my thoughts on the game. I have spent many, many hours developing my fighters into world class foes, to the point that it's probably been a little detrimental to some of my other hobbies (writing, poker, etc.)

Busy summer. Yeah, I know, it's quite cliché to sit here and write about how I've just been too busy to write; if you really wan to do something, you make the time. That being said, I am aliitle surprised at how busy I found myself over the summer. It seems like there was always something going on, whether it was trips (wedding in Albuquerque, vacation in D.C.), or people visiting us (Melissa's sister, and her parents), or any other number of things that we had going on.

Twitter. Ah yes, the glorious micro-blogging time waster. I will admit, it can take a little wind out of your sails, just because it's so easy to post something quick to Twitter. Or if you have an idea you want to write about, but just don't know if there's much substance there, hey, why not Tweet about instead? It can be a dangerous medium to your writing habits if you're not careful.

Well, here you go, my first blog post in quite some time. It was brought to you by the large amount of downtime I'm finding myself with this week due to me being in Warren, NJ for a week long training session for work. Yes, it is as exciting as it sounds.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=305
Personal - Green Day]]>They ended up playing a really long set, they started a little before 9 and didn't finish up until 11:15 or so. Pretty awesome that they stayed out there for so long.

Anyways, I took some crappy photos on my iPhone, so here's a link to them:

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=304
Poker - Bloggers crushing the WSOP]]>Shawn "sprstoner" Glines is currently sitting 2nd with 10 to go at Event #13 ($2,500 NL) at the WSOP with 1.2 million chips. First prize is a cool $500k.

Meanwhile, LJ is in Day 1 of Event #17 ($1,000 NL Women's Championship) and has quickly amassed a nice stack of 11k or so.

GL to both, especially sprstoner, take it down!

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=303
Entertainment - LOST 5.16 and 5.17 Thoughts]]>I want to take a little bit of time to talk about the overlying story that was introduced to us, and then cover everything else with some quick hits.

First off, we have what appears to be our endgame that the show is building up to. It's been hidden from us until now, so we were all under the assumption that the "war" that has been referenced by Charles Widmore and others was something between Ben and Widmore. However, now it seems as though this battle is bigger (and older) than the both of them. The finale opens up with a flashback, probably the earliest we've seen the island, with Jacob, living his life on the island, and we are introduced to his conflict with an as of yet unnamed person.

J: I take it you're here because of the ship?

?: I am. How did they find the island?

J: You'll have to ask them when they get here.

?: I don't have to ask. You brought them here. You're trying to prove me wrong, aren't you?

J: You are wrong.

?: Am I? They come, fight, they destroy, they corrupt, it always ends the same.

J: It only ends once. Anything that happens before that, it's just progress.

?: Do you have any idea how badly I want to kill you?

J: Yes.

?: One of these days, I'm going to find a loophole, my friend.

J: Well, when you do, I'll be right here.

That's what the episode opened up with, that gave us the backstory to what the episode ended with, and I believe that will be the foundation for what happens in the final season. It's all largely mysterious right now, since we don't know who this man is (Although I like the idea of thinking of him as Esau, brother to Jacob), what his purpose is (Aside from his desire to kill Jacob), who Jacob really is, what his purpose is, and what any of this has to do with the island. But, it does appear that all of that is a part of the ultimate story arc, intertwined with everyone on the island.

We also don't know how the remaining characters on the show play into all of this. We've seen their involvement in things thus far, but now what is their purpose? Widmore wanted Locke back on the island. Jacob wanted Hurley back on the island. Eloise wanted them all back on the island. But we don't know why. We don't know what their role will be, whose side they will be on.

Ultimately, I think we are set up nicely for the final season. The show seems ready to head into the final stretch. What that final stretch is, well, we don't know the whole picture yet. But at least we can finally see the road that will lead us there.

Now for some quick hits:

-So, do we want to assume that the ship Jacob was watching was the Black Rock? Because that's what I would like to do. And it certainly looked like the ship Richard was working on in the bottle last week.

-I really thought Michael Emerson did a fantastic job as Ben this week. He was completely resigned to doing whatever Locke wanted. It's a very different look for Ben, having to submit to someone else, and Emerson is pulling it off great. And even when Locke was talking him into wanting to kill Jacob, you could just see Ben's mood transform as it all processed in his head. It's one of the few times we've seen Ben's emotions get the best of him.

-So Richard doesn't age because of Jacob. Jacob apparently doesn't age because of Jacob. Locke is alive because of Jacob (At least once, we don't know about the second time). What are these abilities that Jacob has?

-I wrote down several times during the episode "WHAT IS IN THE BOX?" in big capital letters. I've got to admit, I had no idea it was Locke. None. I guess from now on any time I see a box and I know there's a mystery object inside of it, I'll just assume it's a dead John Locke.

-Anyone else think Terry O'Quinn put on some weight? I don't know what it is, but his man boobs were quite distracting all episode. Someone get that man a bro.

-"I lied. That's what I do." Kind of makes you feel sorry for Ben a little bit, doesn't it?

-Ilana is working for Jacob. Should have seen that coming. Never even occurred to me. So that revelation makes you wonder about a lot of things:

*If Ilana is working for Jacob, then she and her crew were on the flight on purpose, knowing it would get them to the island.

*You have to wonder who Eloise is working for as well, since she too knew the flight would get them to the island.

*We don't know, at the end of the day, why the LOST survivors are involved in all of this.

*Ilana is against Widmore, but legitimately doesn't seem to know who Ben is. So where does Widmore come into all of this? Is he aligned with our unnamed friend?

*Ben said in an earlier episode that he couldn't kill Widmore. Interesting parallel to the opening scene to the show where the man with no name couldn't kill Jacob.

*What was the loophole that he found? Was it the reenactment of the Oceanic flight aboard Ajira? Or was it something else? Maybe just something involving Locke? Did Widmore know about this loophole, which is why he wanted to help Locke get back to the island?

*What exactly happened to Locke? If he's still dead, then how is this other person also walking around as Locke?

*Is Jacob actually dead? It seems like kind of a buzzkill for Ilana to go through all of this to come to the island only to just miss and have Jacob get killed.

What a deep and tangled web they weave.

-Hey look, it really is Rose & Bernard! I'm actually totally okay with the show's explanation for where they've been. They've been at peace with their situation and themselves for a while now, and ultimately, they just want to be together, so I can totally buy the idea of them just living off by themselves somewhere, away from everyone. I think this was the writers' way of basically closing the book on Rose and Bernard. I think outside of some confirmation that they are Adam & Eve (Likely, but still not for sure), I don't know that we'll be seeing them again. Which is fine, I'm just glad they addressed their situation.

-What lies in the shadow of the statue? Ille qui nos omnes servabit. That's Latin for "He who will protect/save us all." No, I don't know Latin, I just looked it up on Lostpedia.

-The lunchbox that Kate tried to steal was the same lunchbox she used as the time capsule that they dug up under the tree in one of her flashbacks.

-Good choice of death for Phil. Metal rod to the chest. I approve.

-Sad to see Juliet go (Assuming she's dead, of course). I really liked her relationship with Sawyer, but at the same time, she was never part of the Oceanic crew, so ultimately their destinies probably didn't follow the same path.

-Not looking good for Sayid, is it? Him dying wouldn't be too much of a surprise either. He's been a shell of himself ever since Nadia died, which is too bad, because he was a great character before he got off the island. We'll see what happens, but it certainly doesn't look like there's much Jack can do about it.

-Miles line about considering the idea that maybe their plan with the bomb actually causes the incident, and the subsequent blank looks by everyone was priceless.

-Quite a fight between Jack and Sawyer. Although I've got to admit, kicking a guy in the balls is very uncool.

-For the record, I don't think anyone died from the bomb, except for Juliet. I also believe that the survivors are going to get knocked back into their own time. I think it's time to close the book on 1977; there's really nothing left for them to do there. Their job was to set off the bomb, cause the incident, and it's done. Now, their story must continue elsewhere, and I think the incident will lead them back to the present.

-My wife actually came up with a really great idea for how next season should start. They could have everyone back on the Oceanic flight, the flight landing, everyone getting off in Los Angeles, and then you cut to Jack's eye opening in the jungle, and it turns out it was all in his head. I hope this happens, actually.

-In keeping with the idea that everyone will wind up back in the present, I believe this is why Richard believes they all died. He knew they were going to set off the bomb, he knew it went off, and they were never seen again, so I think he inferred that to mean that they all died.

-We could have seen this whole Locke situation coming. The writers were giving us hints. Naming an episode "Dead is Dead", having Ben say that he had no idea what was going on. Even this week, Richard telling Locke he had never seen someone resurrected from the dead like that, Locke telling Richard that he wanted to kill the passengers from the Ajira flight. The signs were there that Locke was not Locke.

-Was Locke ever supposed to actually lead the Others, or was it all just a big paradoxical mistake? Richard tried to figure out if John was supposed to lead them by visiting him when he was a child, but couldn't find anything special about him. He did this because Locke told him he was supposed to lead the Others in 1954. Then, when Locke arrived on the island in 2004, Richard knew him, and subsequently knew he was supposed to be their leader, because that's what Locke told him. However, Locke had no idea he was supposed to be their leader until Richard told him that in 2004. And that was how Locke got it into his head that that was true, so when he time flashed back into 1954, he told that to Richard. It's basically a similar circumstance to the compass that the two of them passed back and forth to each other.

But perhaps Jacob was the one who ultimately told Richard that Locke was to lead, and Richard wasn't just going off of what Locke said. Still, makes you wonder if that was all a big mistake, especially considering the consequences.

-I thought the flashbacks were very mysterious. We had Jacob show up and prevent Kate from her first run in with the law, then he showed up after Sawyer's parents' funeral, when he was writing his letter to the real Sawyer, then we had him appear at Jin & Sun's wedding, he also appeared after Jack's surgery where he cut his patient's bursa sac (Kind of cool to see that story play out since we heard about it on the very first episode of the show), he was there when Locke was pushed out the window, and actually appeared to revive him, then he distracted Sayid while he was crossing the street, setting up Nadia being hit and killed by a car, and finally he met Hurley when he was released from prison, convincing him to go back to the island, and leaving him with a guitar case.

So we see Jacob interact with all of our survivors at potentially significant points in their lives, some of his interactions are meaningless, some are not. But we don't know the intention behind any of these, save for Hurley, where he actually made it clear that he wanted Hurley on the Ajira flight to go back to the island. Another mystery that we'll have to wait until next year for the answer.

Well, I'm sure I didn't cover everything, I know for sure I didn't discuss everything from 1977, but that was mostly because at the end of the day, everything there played out the way it was supposed to, with the incident going off as planned, and the writers leaving us with a huge cliff hanger, which had to be expected. I thought we might get a few seconds of post-bomb detonation to tease us with what the consequences were, but either way I knew that the incident would be the very end of the show. Either way, I put my emphasis on the present, and Jacob, and our new storyline, since that's going to be the primary focus of the show going forward.

Now we get to enjoy the 8-month break (ugh), and then come back next year for the sixth and final season. I plan on spending some time finishing re-watching season 3, which I will continue writing about on here, and perhaps try and get into re-watching season 4, since I haven't even looked at any of the DVDs yet and I've had them for a month or two now. Thanks to everyone who's been reading this year, I really do this because I love LOST and this is a nice outlet for me to discuss and theorize about the show, but I am glad to have my readers, since it helps stimulate further conversation about the show.

I suppose other than my LOST DVD posts, I'll get back to some semi-regular blogging about other subjects, so all of you can look forward to not reading that for the next eight months.

"If we can do what Faraday said, our plane never crashes, Flight 815 lands in Los Angeles. And everyone we lost since we got here, they'd all be alive."

"And what about us? We just, go on living our life because we've never met?"

"All that misery that we've been through...we'd just wipe it clean. Never happened"

"It was not all misery."

"Enough of it was."

-Jack & Kate

So the battle of free will vs. fate and destiny continues. Actually, I'm not sure if I can phrase it that way, since Jack believes it is his destiny to exercise free will and change the past, which almost seems like a contradictory stance to take.

Jack is consumed with the idea of fixing past mistakes. This has been an essential part of his character since basically the first time we met him. He is so consumed by it that it has shown to be, at times, one of his greatest flaws. And here is another situation, where Jack can't let go of the idea that life should be tampered with to the point of erasing the last three years of history on the island (Really it's more like 30 since making changes now would effect the entire history of the island from that point on, not just starting in 2004), so that he can save the lives of the people that have died since the plane crashed.

He doesn't know if this alternate future is any better than the way things played out, but that's because he doesn't really care. Jack doesn't think that way; he is only concerned with fixing what he is capable of fixing. In this case, he believe he can "fix" the future, which ultimately to him means preventing people from dying. But is that the correct course of action? We can go back to the cliche idea when discussing time travel, if you could go back in time and kill Hitler, should you? Because that action would have unpredictable and possibly irreparable changes on the future. Yes, you would be trying to rid the world of a genocidal maniac, but at what cost? How would that affect the rest of history? It's the same situation here. Jack wants to prevent the people that have died since the show started. But what does that mean for everything else?

-If Jack prevents the incident, what if that leads to Dharma bringing back all the women and children? What if that means when Dharma is "purged", all of those women and children who were off the island end up dead with everyone else.

-Kate would spend the rest of her life in prison.

-Sun would leave Jin in LA, and they would never rekindle their relationship.

-Rose would die of cancer.

-John Locke would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair in a meaningless job.

-Sawyer would spend the rest of his life incomplete, unable to find the man who killed his parents.

-Juliet would continue to be a prisoner on the island.

And really, these issues are just scratching the surface of the problem, there could be much, much more severe consequences from preventing the incident that we can't even imagine.

Now, all that being said, we still don't even know if it's possible to stop anything. And considering all we have to go on is Faraday saying it's possible, and he then proceeded to fall in line with the rest of history by being shot and killed by his mother, how much credibility does he have at the moment?

I think it's much more likely that Jack helps create the incident, when in fact his inaction would have prevented it to begin with. He actually reminds me a lot of Locke at the end of Season 2. Locke became so convinced, based on information that he was exposed to (and consequently arrived at the wrong conclusions), that he completely destroyed the computer in the hatch that let you input the numbers, and only after it was too late did he realize his mistake. I see Jack heading down a similar path, only now Desmond isn't here to save him.

Some quick hits:

-Richard said he watched them all die. I think they kept that vague on purpose. Sun only has a picture of Jack, Kate, and Hurley. She mentioned Jin, but that was it. And no one even brought up Sawyer, Juliet, Sayid, or Miles. So which of these people is Richard talking about? And does he even know for sure that anyone died? Let's say they disappeared, and went back to their own time, but Richard didn't know it, and just thought they died, instead. It was a chilling statement for him to make, but it was made out to be very unclear, so for now I'm not taking it to mean much of anything.

-After Eloise got done talking to Jack and Kate in her tent, she went out and had a conversation with Charles. Did anyone else see him place his hand on her stomach? It could have just been an affectionate gesture, but it almost seemed to me like it was something you would do when someone when they were pregnant. Plus, he mentioned something about her going to the bomb in her 'condition'.

-I thought it was interesting that Richard didn't know why Locke had disappeared. For someone that has been on the island for so long, I would have expected him to be aware of something like that. Although, Locke in general seems to throw Richard off a little bit.

-So the Others went back to their old tents/huts after Ben and Locke left. I take that to mean that moving into the Dharma barracks was Ben's idea, and perhaps not one shared by Richard?

-Seems like we learned a couple of things about Dharma: First, that Horace is kind of a wuss, and that Radzinsky is higher up on the food chain than I first thought. It's still Horace's show, but clearly Radzinsky is in a high enough position to take charge if he wants. Dr. Chang seems to be the lead scientist on the island, but I don't know how much real power he actually has.

-Phil is so screwed. I'm looking forward to his death.

-Great dialogue with Hurley and Chang. I also really liked the scene later where Miles realized why his father sent him and his mother off the island.

-This whole Richard/Locke/Ben triangle has provided us with a cool little dynamic. Locke is trying to fit into his new role as leader of the Others, Richard is doing his best to accommodate Locke, but seems a little perplexed by some of Locke's requests, and Ben is the old boss, just sort of sitting back and mocking Locke at any chance he gets. There are clearly things that Ben and Richard know about that they haven't shared with Locke, which might not be a good idea, since this seems to be a much more educated Locke than what we saw three years ago.

-I listened to a podcast this morning which had a great theory...whatever map Sawyer was drawing is the basis for the map Radzinsky created on the blast door in the Swan. Fantastic idea, I hope it's true.

-We went through this period of time where we knew people weren't going to die. At the end of season 3, we saw Kate, and Jack, and eventually the rest of the 6 off the island, in the future. So we knew they weren't going to die. Then, we saw Jack, and Kate, and Hurley back on the island, so we knew they weren't going to die. But now, like Faraday said, any one of them can die. And I think the LOST writers know that we've moved back into this phase of uncertainty, so they can go back to teasing major character deaths, just like they did with Kate, making us think she got shot. Well played, writers.

-How do you get a 200-ton hydrogen bomb out of a tunnel?

-How awesome was the touching scene with Sawyer and Juliet on the sub, and then the subsequent ruining of said touching scene by Kate showing up. The awkwardness factor was through the roof, and Juliet looked like she wanted to take a gun to Kate's head and just put an end to it.

-Sayid brings up a good point. Jack seems to implicitly trust 1977 Eloise, and that is due in large part to him trusting 2007 Eloise. But wouldn't 2007 Eloise know that Jack trusted 1977 Eloise and use that to her advantage to get him to go back to the island? It's a bit circular, but needless to say I'm not so sure Jack is correct in placing all of his faith with this woman.

-Can Locke kill Jacob? Is Jacob even alive? Is he even a person? I hope he's thought this out a little bit. Ben seemed pretty floored by the idea as well. Will Richard allow it? Is there anything he can do to stop it? What about the smoke monster, does he have a role in any of this?

-Did anyone else miss the "We're going out on an adventure in the jungle" music? I know I did. I don't think we've heard it since the Oceanic survivors made the trek to the radio tower at the end of season 4.

Should be a heck of a finale. Jack's got a hydrogen bomb, Locke is trying to kill the "ruler" of the island, Kate's trying to stop Jack, we get to find out what our Shadow of the Statue people have in that big metal box of theirs. I'm also expecting someone of significance to die. Miles is probably the leading candidate at the moment, especially since he was able to reveal to his father that he is, in fact, his son. Kate might also be appropriate, since Jack is trying to prevent the incident to save everyone, so his actions resulting in her death would work; although I'm not sure the writers want to kill her off with still another season left in the show.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=301
Entertainment - LOST 5.14 Thoughts]]>It's probably not a long storyline arc, since the season finale will most likely be dealing with the Incident, but even still, it gives the audience something to be engaged in. Even if we don't believe that anyone can prevent the Incident from happening (and I don't), Faraday had to have left just a little bit of doubt in your minds when talking about themselves as "variables", capable of changing things, didn't he? Can they actually do anything to stop the Incident? Or is this all the way things are supposed to play out? Everything goes on as planned, the Incident happens, Dr. Chang loses his arm, things at Dharma go back to normal, Radzinski operates the Swan, and Ben grows up and wipes the Dharma Initiative out.

Perhaps the only real variable on the show is what happens to the survivors, although that's only a mystery to us. The powers that be on the island already know their fate, at least to a certain extent. But as far as we're concerned, just like Daniel said, any one of them could die. We don't know who lives, who dies, where everyone will end up, when everyone will end up. It's all a big mystery thus far.

Some quick hits:

-I know this was technically a Faraday-centric episode, but I felt like we learned more about Eloise Hawking than we did about Daniel Faraday. And we certainly learned quite a lot about her, didn't we? As screwed up as the whole situation is, how determined does she have to be to raise her child, and push him his whole life into a career in physics, solely because she knows it is ultimately his destiny to go back to the island she grew up on and eventually be shot and killed by her. That's some heavy stuff to have to hold on to.

Now, obviously Daniel's destiny was more than to go back in time and get killed by his mother. We don't know yet entirely what his ultimate purpose; I've speculated that he built the pendulum in the Lamp Post, and who knows what else he was able to accomplish.

Either way, this goes back to the broad idea of destiny, something that Eloise clearly believes in strongly. So the question has to be asked: when and why did she develop such a strong conviction to fate, and destiny? We saw it before with Desmond during his deja vu/flashback/life flashing before his yes/whatever. And we see it now with Faraday. She is absolutely committed to this idea that you can't change what happened, and that things must play out the way they're supposed to (Remember the man in the red shoes who she let die during Desmond's deja vu?). But where did this idea come from? She must have seen something, or encountered some kind of evidence to sway her towards this idea.

-I'm about 99.5% sure that Faraday is dead. And if he's not dead, he's going to die eventually. Eloise Hawking made it very clear during her flashback that she was very distraught about Daniel going to the island. She wouldn't have been so distraught if she knew he got shot and then survived. The only, only reason I would speculate that he might not be dead yet is because last year at a Comic Convention, they showed a video of Dr. Pierre Chang going on about the fate of the island, the Purge, what happens in the future, etc., and Daniel Faraday was the one taping it. It had to have been filmed after the episode we saw last night, given Dr. Chang's reaction to Faraday's idea regarding time travel. However...there is no definitive say whether or not that video is supposed to be considered part of the "official" LOST story, or if it was just some fan fiction to get everyone excited at the convention. But that's it. That's the only reason I can think of why Faraday would not be dead.

-Back to Eloise briefly, towards the end of the episode she told Penny that she doesn't know what's going to happen anymore. Is that because the extent of her knowledge of the future was limited to when The Six went back to the island? After that, there is no more past/present interactions, so there is nothing more to know? Or is there more to it than that?

-Daniel is Widmore's kid, too. I know it's been speculated on so much that it's not exactly surprising now that he's admitted it, but I was pretty happy about it since I threw that crazy theory out there after the second episode of the season. So go me. That makes me 1 for 374 on crazy theories thus far.

-Did you notice when Faraday was a kid playing the piano that Eloise had one black earring and one white earring? It's been a while since we've had some good black/white imagery, hasn't it?

-When Faraday went to the Swan and waited for Chang to show up, he commented "right on time". What was that about? How did he know that was going to happen? I guess he must have just watched the season premiere. In all seriousness, though, Faraday knew when Chang was going to show up, knew exactly when the Incident was going to happen, knew exactly what happened to Oceanic 815...but he didn't know that he was going to be shot. How does he find out about this information?

-All the best scientists have mommy issues? Sorry, I'll stop now.

-It was kind of refreshing to see Jack finally have a purpose in his life. He had pretty much been riding the wave, waiting to see where it would take him, but Daniel's return seems to have inspired him to help change the future (Even if he can't). He has a purpose now. Daniel said Eloise was wrong when she told Jack it was his destiny to go back. Given that Jack is about to meet young Eloise, I think she might not be so wrong after all.

-Looks like the bomb isn't buried inside the Swan after all. The cement was used to contain the massive pocket of energy under the Swan, "like Chernobyl".

-This was totally one of those weeks where I kept making notes about things, and then they would invalidate the note I just made five minutes later. After Faraday had lunch with his mother in his flashback, I made a note to go back and watch the first flashback we saw of Daniel, when he was crying watching the crash, to see if it was Theresa in the house with him. And just like that, we get to see that scene again. Then I made a note when Widmore came to visit him about going to the island, and I wondered if that's what fixed his mind, and then right away Widmore says the island would heal him. Finally, when Hawking was trying to get Daniel to go back to the island, I noted how bothered she was by it and questioned if that meant he was going to die. Well, we know how that one worked out.

-Oh, and it's now super-official that Charles Widmore planted the fake Oceanic 815. It had long been speculated, it was even casually stated during the clip show last week, but now we have it coming from the mouth of Charles Widmore himself. So we can stop hypothesizing that it might have been Ben.

-Richard didn't really look all that worried that Daniel had a gun pointed at him. Do you think that's because Richard's just a bad ass and isn't scared of puny scientists with pistols...or because there's no point in threatening to shoot Richard because it wouldn't do anything anyways?

I have a quasi-prediction/train of thought about something that I wanted to get out there. Faraday's plan was to blow up the Swan/the energy source with the hydrogen bomb that the Others' were supposed to bury. Obviously he didn't get around to doing that. I could see Jack getting behind this idea and trying to make it work himself. But I don't think he can do it in the past, just because he can't change anything. But what if they made it back into the present? The bomb should still be there. The hatch won't be, but that doesn't matter. I'm thinking more in terms of the "war" we're still waiting to see. If that bomb isn't used to destroy the hatch, I could certainly see it playing a significant role in the upcoming battle that we'll (I assume) get to see next season.

Only two more weeks left. I'm hoping for some Hurley flashbacks next week (or at the very least during the finale) so we can find out his story on coming back to the island. Until then, I'm going to go brush up on my Korean and find out what swear word Jin was using when the alarm was going off at the barracks.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=300
Entertainment - LOST 5.13 Follow Up]]>-First, I would like to thank Anne for her comment regarding being able to exist on the island with your younger self. I responded to her question, but I figured I would go ahead and bring it up in here since not everyone reads the comments on here.

As is the case with man of my theories, this one ultimately turned out to be 100% wrong. Apparently the idea of occupying the same time period as your previous self was not exclusive to when the island was jumping around through time, it also applies in 1977. So that means Daniel was telling the truth when he said Charlotte stopped jumping with them because she died, and that means Miles is able to exist along with his younger self.

That also means that the reason Sun didn't travel back was not because she was already on the island as a child. We still don't know why she didn't, but I guess we have one more theory that we can cross off the list.

Now, one idea I heard on a podcast that has some merit is regarding speculation on what happens if you were to come in contact with your younger self. As of right now, the only person we know of that exists twice in the same time is Miles. We also know that Miles has some extraordinary ability to speak with the dead. I don't know what happens when you come in contact with yourself (I do know that we're not going by Timecop rules where you will simply cease to exist). I had speculated that Miles' abilities might have something to do with "The Incident", but perhaps him coming into contact with himself had something to do with it as well.

-Remember when the island was jumping, and Sawyer and Co. was on that boat, being shot at. I'd say there's a very good chance that Ilana's crew was shooting at them. We saw the boats in the present, plus the Ajira water bottles, it didn't make sense for Ben, Locke, Sun, or Lapidus to be shooting at them, but Ilana, now that we know she has some other purpose?

-Daniel has to be the one who built the pendulum in the Lamp Post. What do we know? We know that the Lamp Post was built in L.A. by Dharma over a pocket of electromagnetic energy. We know, from Eloise Hawking, that a "very clever fellow" added the pendulum to the station to find when and where the island was. We also know that after arriving in 1974, Daniel went...somewhere. After seeing him arrive in the sub at the end of this week's episode, he is apparently a scientist in Dharma, coming to the island from Ann Arbor. Therefore, it is very easy to assume that he built the pendulum at the Lamp Post, and is the "fellow" Hawking was referring to.

Obviously we don't know any of this for sure, but I'd say it's pretty likely at this point.

-So we know that the Others, and the island seem to be wrapped in lots of Egyptian mythology. Lately I have found myself wondering how much about the island Dharma knew when they decided to set up there. The fact that Ben's house (and probably Horace's before that?) in the barracks had a secret door leading to a tunnel filled with hieroglyphics, not to mention that the timer in the Swan changed to some hieroglyphics as well when the button isn't pushed, leads us to believe that they knew something of the island's history. Also, in last week's episode, the chalkboard that Jack was erasing contained some teachings on ancient Egypt:

-What led to Dharma deciding to set up shop on this island? Did they find out about the island from the military? And if so, how did the military find the island, and did they attempt to relocate it once their team and hydrogen bomb went missing? All questions my friend Justin and I were poring over and I would love answers to.

A few things that I thought of during the clipshow last night:

-First, really good clipshow, simply because it was mostly composed of flashforwards and flashbacks, only we got to see them in chronological order for the most part, which was cool.

-I remembered Kate seeing Claire in Aaron's room, but I didn't remember her telling Kate not to take Aaron back to the island. I wonder how much of that played a part in her leaving Aaron with Miss Littleton.

-So these guys that were going after Sayid when he helped Hurley escape from the mental institution, I guess we're to assume that they were part of Ilana's crew? I guess I had initially assumed they were Widmore's men, but our last Sayid flashback showed us that he had killed everyone that posed a threat to them, so why all of a sudden would Widmore have more people go after Sayid? Especially since Widmore knew he was in (Costa Rica?) building houses, and let him be while he was down there. Plus, these guys weren't trying to kill Sayid, they just wanted to capture him.

That being said, why was one of them waiting outside of Hurley's mental institution?

There are lots of blurry lines here with who is working with/for who, and what everyone's motivation is right now.

Everything's set up nicely now for the last three episodes of the season (tear). I expect there to be some major chaos in the Dharma Initiative, and I'm hoping next week will focus on Daniel so we can learn about how he's been spending his time, as well as learning more about how the island works.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=299
Entertainment - LOST 5.13 Thoughts]]>There were a couple quick ideas that I wanted to discuss that came up during last night's episode. The first is regarding Ilana and this group in the black van that grabbed Miles during one of his flashbacks. Whoever these people represent, it's still largely a mystery to all of us, and for the most part we've speculated that they work for Widmore or possibly Ben. I had heard the idea that they were actually representing a third party, something which I dismissed since I didn't feel like the show had enough time to introduce another faction into the show. After last night, though...I'm not really sure who these people are.

It would seem that these people do not work for Charles Widmore, based on their discussion with Miles in the van. If anything, they oppose Widmore and his cause, as they considered their team "the side that's going to win". So that leaves us with two options: Either they work for Ben, or they work for someone else that we haven't considered yet.

Personally, I've never really had the impression that they were working for Ben. I know Ben is big on secrecy, and scheming, and deception, and all of that, but when he spoke with Ilana on the beach, she didn't seem to know him, and if he did know her and her team, he made no attempt to interject himself. So for this group to be working for Ben, they would have to be doing so not actually knowing who it is that they are working for. And on top of that, Ben wants to keep his identity a secret from them (for now, at least).

So that leaves us with the possibility that there is a third party involved. There isn't much to speculate about with this option, as we have no idea who it could be or what their purpose is. I still don't know how likely this option is, because as I said, they have 21 episodes left, with everything they already have left to do, adding a brand new group into the mix seems a little overwhelming.

One other thing to keep in mind about this group is that whatever their purpose is, they've been at it for a while. Miles was approached after accepting the job from Naomi. We learned about Ilana after the Ajira flight landed on the island. Those two events are over three years apart from each other. So at the very least, this group has been operating in some capacity during that entire time. I imagine we'll find out the group's true intentions by the end of the season to set up the stretch run, for now, your guess is as good as mine.

The other thing I wanted to discuss briefly was our cast members and their relationships with their fathers. I remember the episode entitled "All Cowboys Have Daddy Issues", which was a Sawyer episode, but thinking about it a little more, every person on this show has some serious daddy issues, don't they? I mean, let's take a look at the list:

-Jack: Father drank too much, put too much pressure on his son from a young age, his constant disappointment directed at Jack put a permanent strain on their relationship. Not to mention he died and is now wandering around the island giving people advice.

-Kate: Discovered her drunk abusive step-father was her real father, so she blew him up. That one's pretty obvious.

-Locke: His real father conned him into donating a kidney, then later pushed him out of a high-rise window, paralyzing him from the waist down.

-Sawyer: After his father found out his mother was having an affair with a con man, he killed her, then killed himself.

-Jin: He actually doesn't have real bad daddy issues, although he did pretend his father was dead because he was ashamed that he was only a lowly fisherman.

-Sun: Her father is a powerful, dangerous business man. He basically forced her husband into indentured servitude with his company in order for them to get married, where Jin had to partake in...questionable business practices.

-Hurley: Father abandoned him when he was 10, only showed back up after Hurley won the lottery; although to be fair, they did work out some of their issues.

-Sayid: We don't know much about Sayid, other than he seemed to disapprove of his older brother.

-Miles: As was clearly discussed last night, his mother left with him when he was just a baby, so he has no relationship whatsoever with his father.

-Penny: Her father is Charles Widmore. That's about all I need to say about that.

-Ben: Mother died giving birth to him, and his father spent the rest of his life blaming Ben for it, and in general making his life miserable.

-Faraday: Still speculation, but his father might be Charles Widmore too. See Penny for that one.

I don't have any ultimate point to any of that, I just thought it was crazy how screwed up everyone's relationship is with their fathers.

Some quick hits:

-I was disappointed that there wasn't more significance to Miles and his demand from Ben for $3.2 million. Miles was to be paid $1.6 million from Widmore to do his job, and Miles asked for double that from our mystery group to not work for Widmore. So does that mean Miles thinks that group works for Ben? Is that a hint to us that maybe they work for Ben? I'm not so sure since the mystery group had no intention of paying him anything.

-From now on, any time Miles or Hurley are written into a scene, the other has to be standing next to them. For the rest of the show. I'm serious about this, their dialogue is hilarious.

-This week's episode was called "Some Like it Hoth", so I was waiting to see what the Star Wars reference was that they were going to make. I love the idea that Hurley wanted to give Lucas the idea for Empire Strikes Back, only with some improvements. This is what George Lucas does to people; despite how much they may like his movies, he still screws stuff up so that people want to fix what he's done.

-The numbers on the hatch are just a serial number? Hmm, so why were they broadcast over the radio tower?

-For those of you unaware of Miles' previous film work, here he is in the movie Hook:

Seriously, what was with that hair?

-Jack's passiveness is becoming a little unnerving to me. He's just so complacent and...I don't know, accepting of this idea that he can't change what happens and he's just along for the ride.

-I'm sure Sawyer's enjoying himself right now. I guess you can only take a con so far before it becomes too big to handle. The system is very close to completely breaking down.

-Everyone was pretty excited when Phil got punched in the face, right? It couldn't have just been me.

-I'm pretty sure I saw Rose & Bernard working with the crew at the Swan. No, really.

-So it seems pretty clear that the Swan was built specifically because of the electromagnetic anomaly. That's why Dharma is willing to risk going out into "Others" territory to have it built.

-I loved Juliet's lame ass attempt to cover up that Ben was gone.

Roger: Hey, where's my son? His bed is empty!

Juliet: Um...yeah, what's up with that? I went in the other room for ten minutes and then...I just got back right when you walked in and then...I was just about to go tell someone that he was missing, but then you got here and saw he was gone, and...I think someone took him?

Good one.

-Nice to see Kate's back to her old ways of screwing stuff up.

-So when Miles was a kid, was his mother unaware of his abilities? Did something happen on the island that caused her to leave Dr. Chang? Did something happen to Miles that she blamed him for? It's pretty clear to me that Miles' mother left his father, not the other way around. And it's also pretty clear to me that Miles wasn't just born with this ability to see the dead, especially considering he was born on the island. No, I think something happened, and that caused him to have this ability, and whatever happened is the reason his mother left.

Well, 1,500 words. Yeah, I guess I ended up making this real brief.

ABC is screwing us with our second (but last!) week off. So in two weeks hopefully we can get some information about a returning Dr. Faraday, where he's been, why he left, all of that good stuff. At least that helps explain our first flashback of the season with Dr. Chang and Daniel, clearly it hasn't happened yet, but will be happening soon. Maybe it will be shown again in the "present" in the season finale, just so that everything can come full circle. That would be kind of neat.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=298
Personal - Podcasts]]>I wanted to throw out a quick post about podcasts, something that I have been getting into over the past few months. Podcasts have been around for quite some time, and I think there were a couple of primary factors that prevented me from getting into them. First, podcasts, like many things on the internet, are so numerous and cover so many different subjects that it becomes overwhelming to the point that you have no idea what's good and what's crap. It's kind of like blogs. The chances of me reading a blog that hasn't either come recommended from someone or is written by someone I know is minute. Similarly, just because I might be interested in a podcast on a certain subject, doesn't mean that I will just blindly search for one and start listening to the first thing that I find.

The second factor was fitting in podcast-listening into my schedule. I'm sure a lot of people have a commute every day that they use to read the paper (If they don't drive), or check e-mail, or listen to music, or possibly listen to podcasts. I'm fortunate enough that my commute consists of a 15-minute walk to work, but at the same time it doesn't leave me with a lot of dead time doing nothing. I also was't really sure if I would make time to listen to a podcast at home, so that made me a little hesitant.

The thing that ultimately pushed me in favor of listening to podcasts was Bill Simmons. Simmons had been working on this basketball book for quite some time, and because of it, his column output decreased quite a bit to the point where we were lucky if we got something once a week (Aside from his little ESPN The Magazine pieces). While Simmons is kind of a jackass sometimes, at the end of the day he's easily my favorite sportswriter, so I hated that I had so little of him to read. Plus, in his columns he was constantly making references to things that happened in the B.S. Report (The name of his podcast). So ultimately I decided that I would start listening to his podcast. I subscribed to it in iTunes, and basically I would listen to it in increments on the way to and from work. I could usually get in about 20 minutes at a time.

From there I started increasing my podcast listening. I believe I read a post from Wil Wheaton where he shared some of his favorite podcasts. So I subscribed to Stuff You Should Know which is the podcast HowStuffWorks.com runs. I also subscribed to NPR's Driveway Moments (Although it doesn't seem to get updated very often). Finally I subscribed to Tank Riot, mostly because they did a tremendous podcast on Mr. Rogers not too long ago.

I had these in regular rotation for a little while, when I realized that I'm always looking for new things to learn about LOST, so why not find some podcasts to listen to? I subscribed to the "official" LOST Podcast, which, while brief, is quite handy because it features bigwigs Carlton Cuse and Damen Lindelof, and they usually have some interesting conversations regarding the goings on in the show. The other LOST podcast I listen to I discovered on The Huffington Post, and it's a podcast by Jay and Jack. I believe it's the most popular un-official LOST podcast out there, and there are generally some good nuggets of information in each episode.

That's all I have in my rotation right now, and those usually keep me pretty occupied. I'm certainly open to more if I find any that are interesting enough, and I have listened to them at home on occasion when I get a little behind. All in all, though, I'd have to say that I've enjoyed my podcasting experience so far, as there is some good material out there, and it's a convenient medium to utilize for people who are out and about.

A groundswell of outrage, concern and confusion sprang up over the weekend, largely via Twitter, in response to what authors and others believed was a decision by Amazon to remove "adult" titles from its sales rankings. On Sunday evening, however, an Amazon spokesperson said that a "glitch" had occurred in its sales ranking feature that was in the process of being fixed. The spokesperson added that there was no new policy regarding "adult" titles. As of Monday morning, a number of titles affected by the so-called glitch are still without sales rankings.

For most of the weekend on Twitter, in conversations with the hash tag "#amazonfail," users were discussing the fact that the e-tailer was removing the sales rankings for books that it deemed featured "adult" content. Many readers, and writers, decried the fact that Amazon appears to be removing the sales ranking for titles that feature gay and lesbian characters and/or themes.

The director of the Erotic Authors Association, who goes by the pen name Erastes, told PW that many of her members "noticed their titles had been stripped of their sales rankings" on Amazon. One, Mark Probst, contacted a customer service representative at Amazon and wrote about the exchange on his blog. Probst wrote that the Amazon rep responded to his inquiry by saying that "'adult' material" is being excluded from appearing in "some searches and best seller lists" as a "consideration of our entire customer base."

Whether a glitch or new policy, titles like James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room and Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain are among the those that have lost their sales ranking.

This has caused quite a bit of commotion on the Internet, and if I had to guess I would say Amazon will either be fixing its "glitch" or amending whatever policy they decided to institute some time this week. When you're an internet-based company, it's probably not a good idea to piss off a large part of your internet-based customer group.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=296
Entertainment - LOST 5.12 Thoughts]]>My interest was piqued for last night's episode, mostly because it was Ben-centric, and those are pretty hard to screw up. It ended up being pretty much what I expected, a look into some of the history of the island through Ben's flashbacks.

Honestly, it felt like this episode was made to lay down some additional exposition to the Linus/Widmore relationship that we will see more of down the road. We were shown scenes from all throughout that relationship, from the very beginning, to where it stands presently. What once started as a very promising friendship between two "Others", deteriorated over the years into what it is today; a bitter rivalry that knows no bounds (Well, almost no bounds), that, at the end of the day, seemingly leads back to the island.

Charles Widmore first meets Ben after Richard brings him to their camp (Great casting for the younger Widmore, by the way, the facial similarities were impressive), who is clearly sympathetic to Ben's plight to joint the Others. Some time down the road, maybe twelve or thirteen years, we see a grownup Ben with a juvenile Ethan Rom, taking Alex from Rousseau, which goes against Charles' apparent wishes to have them both killed. From this point on, Ben seemingly raises Alex as his own. A few years after that (Five? Six?), Charles Widmore is removed from the island, apparently at Ben's discretion (Or perhaps the island's discretion). To the best of our knowledge, this is the last time that we have ever seen Widmore step foot on the island, although it appears he has spent those following years either trying to get back there, or at the very least find Benjamin Linus. Along the way we have had Widmore's men kill Ben's daughter, something Ben later tried to reciprocate with Widmore's daughter, but was unable to do, along with an off-island confrontation between Ben and Charles (A scene which I am really itching to re-watch right about now).

And that more or less brings us up to speed on where Ben and Charles currently stand. There appears to be some other parties getting involved, which I believe will play a key part in Widmore's "war", but I'll discuss that later.

The "present" storyline for the episode re-introduced us to the idea of the smoke monster "judging" people, something we have not seen it do since Eko was judged for his sins and ultimately killed by the smoke monster. With Ben it's always hard to know what the truth is and what's a lie, but I do believe that he went to face the music for Alex being killed. I think he probably knew that he had to for whatever reason since he was returning to the island, but I don't think that he solely went back just to be judged. There's always an ulterior motive when it comes to Ben. However, I can't help but wonder if Ben will have to stow away his ulterior motives for now since the smoke monster made it abundantly clear that it would kill Ben if he didn't do exactly what Locke told him.

I thought that was an interesting scene, that might help explain Locke's presence on the island. He came back to life when they landed on the island, and seemed to be filled with certain knowledge of the island (ie. Where the smoke monster was) that he didn't have before, and yet, we really don't know why any of this is so. I think there are lots of unanswered questions regarding Locke, the smoke monster, Christian, and Jacob.

-Who is Jacob? What is his purpose?
-What is the smoke monster? Where did it come from? Does Jacob control it? Is Jacob the smoke monster? Does it have the ability to control people?
-Was Christian brought back to life on the island? What is his role in everything? Is he controlled by someone(thing), or is he simply acting as a guide or messenger for someone?
-Is Locke really alive now? Is he now occupying a similar role to Christian? Did Jacob, or the island, bring him back to life and give him his knowledge so that he too may act as a guide or messenger? Is that why the smoke monster instructed Ben to do what Locke says?

That's a lot to think about, but when it's all said and done, there will be some kind of explanation on the relationship between these four entities (and, I assume, insight as to how Claire fits into all of this).

Those were the two main themes of the show, here are some other quick hits:

-I wonder how long it took Ben to master his art of deception? It's very apparent that when he's a kid he's terrible at it, and even when he was taking Alex from Rousseau he didn't seem like the cold, calculating Ben we've come to expect, And yet, there he is with the other Ajira passengers, starting up casual conversation, lying his ass off, already trying to turn other people against Locke, and he doesn't even think twice about it.

-Peace out Cesar, we hardly knew ye. While I'll agree that the idea of him not realizing his sawed off shotgun is missing is a little ridiculous, you just don't steal a man's gun, especially when that man is Benjamin Linus.

-So, throw out my whole theory of an altered present, I guess. It still seems a little fishy to me (We heard the numbers being broadcast when Frank landed the plane, and it sounded a little like Hurley, everything seems a little too disheveled for a place that's only been abandoned for three years), but for now I'll play along and just assume that they're in regular old 2007 like they should be.

-I still want to know where the rest of the Others are, and why they never returned to Dharmaville. Maybe Locke knows. Maybe he knows where Rose and Bernard are, too.

-I find it interesting that Widmore was basically removed from the island, and yet hasn't been able to return to it. Ben said that he had left the island many times, so clearly he knows how to find it. Did Ben move the island so that Widmore couldn't find it again? I'm sure there's more to that story.

-Well, we know that Eloise Hawking isn't Penny's mother. Apparently Widmore likes to escape the pressures of daily life by running off to England to have illegitimate children. I still think Widmore is Daniel Faraday's father, however. I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to see Hawking at all during the flashbacks. I guess that will have to wait for another episode.

-Speaking of Penny, I got the feeling once the show was trying to tease the crap out of Ben killing Penny that he didn't actually end up doing it. Usually when LOST really builds up to something so much that you expect to happen, it doesn't actually happen. So the more and more they teased it, the less likely it was to happen. It is always nice to see the human side of Ben, though. And it certainly makes sense that Ben would have some mommy/child abandonment issues. His mother died in childbirth with him, and his father was always quick to remind Ben about that. Plus, he stole a child from its mother and raised it as its own, something he no doubt feels even more guilty about now that Alex is dead. So once he saw Penny's child, all that kind of kicked in and made him hesitate. Although I do wonder how long that hesitation would have lasted if Desmond hadn't stopped him. Oh, and nice ass kicking by Desmond, I wouldn't want to get in a fight with him.

-Hey look, it's a big metal box that was apparently in the airplane. And it seems to belong to Ilana, who is all of a sudden very hostile to everyone. Hmm...Ilana, who is supposedly working for "the family" of a man Sayid killed, and now only seems to be fixated on her large metal box, and asking stupid questions like "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" It's starting to look a little more like she was supposed to be on that flight, perhaps another person on the employ of Mr. Charles Widmore? I don't know what's in the box, but whatever it is, it's probably not good.

-Oh yeah, I forgot, what the hell was with Ben draining that pool of water, and then talking into the whole that he would be outside? That's how he summons the smoke monster? I don't understand that at all. I was mostly just amused at how completely bizarre it was.

That's all I've got for this week. Next week looks to be another intriguing episode, as it seems like we will be dealing with Miles and some further flashbacks into his life, along with some kind of interaction with Dr. Chang (!), so that should be fun.

Did anyone watch The Unusuals last night? I didn't, but it seems like Harold Perrineau's character revolved around the number 42. Poor bastard, can't ever seem to get away from the damn numbers.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=295
Entertainment - LOST Season 3 Revisited (Part 1)]]>(On a side note, it's a real testament to how much I love this show that I was able to sit down for six straight hours and re-watch 8 old episodes from two season ago.)

I didn't get to much of the juicy stuff that I was looking forward to seeing in Season 3 (Learning a lot more about Dharma, the Others, things like that), although Episode 3.8 was the great Desmond episode that, looking back, was one of the more integral episodes of the show.

The first thing I wanted to talk about was Eko. I remember at the time that most of us were pretty upset about Eko getting killed off seemingly suddently, considering what an awesome character he was. Looking back, however, I can't help but think that his death was wholly appropriate. I guess because of how imposing someone like Eko was, everyone wanted him to be "major player" in the grand scheme of things, but at the end of the day, I just don't see it.

Eko's primary purpose when we first met him in Season 2 was that of an enforcer for everyone in the tail section. Then, when he rejoined the rest of the survivors, he became sort of a foil for Locke. In the Man of Faith/Man of Science debate, he was definitely a Man of Faith, same as Locke. He seemed destined to work with Locke on the mysteries of the island; and ultimately, when Locke seemingly lost his faith, Eko was there to bring him back. And at the end of the day, his death served as a final guide for Locke in his mission to unlock the secrets of the island.

He did have his own story, his brother Yemi, who died on his behalf, and also crashed on the island, but ultimately that story was pretty wrapped up. And actually, I think the most interesting thing that Eko did from our perspective is show us a little bit more about what the smoke monster does. In episode 3.5, Eko was having visions of his brother Yemi on the island. Yemi was telling Eko that it was his time to be judged. At the end of the episode, Eko went back to the plane that Yemi had crashed in, only to find Yemi's body gone (Dead bodies disappearing mysteriously and showing up alive on the island later is not exactly a new phenomenon). He then saw Yemi, who seemingly proceeded to "judge" Eko. Eko did not seek forgiveness for any of his sins during his life, saying he killed a man to save his brother's life, and that he does not regret doing that, and that he did not get to choose his life, it was chosen for him. After that, "Yemi" said that Eko was not speaking to his brother, and then the smoke monster appeared and killed Eko.

The smoke monster is largely still a mystery. We don't know where it came from, what its purpose is, what its capable of. We have seen it try and take people before (Locke, the French man from Rousseau's crew), we have seen it kill people before (The Oceanic co-pilot, Eko), it seemingly has the ability to imitate things, as we have been able to distinguish images from within its cloud before. We did see Ben "unleash" it against Keamy and his crew at the end of Season 4. This scene with Eko is interesting, however, because the smoke monster seems to be acting as judge (or perhaps, executioner). So who was Yemi, exactly? Is the smoke monster capable of transforming into a person? Does it actually "judge" people, or does Jacob do the judging, and the smoke monster doles out the punishment? It's actually interesting timing that I happened to watch this episode today, because in a preview for this week's episode, we saw Ben tell Locke that the reason he came back to the island was "to be judged".

The other big thing to emerge from this group of episodes was Desmond, and his ascension as a significant character. I was talking to my friend Justin about this earlier, and I noticed that I was never really into the Desmond/Penny relationship before. I mean, it was nice and all, I didn't hate it or anything, but I didn't think much of it until recently, probably when Penny rescued everyone. The second time through, however, I find myself much more engaged in everything they do. It really is a very touching relationship and fascinating story.

So first we have Desmond turning the key in the Swan, which resulted in several things happening that we still don't fully understand to this day, things we are hoping and expecting to learn about in 1977 with the upcoming construction of the Swan. The turning of the key resulted in the sky turning purple, it resulted in some kind of explosion/implosion of the hatch, and it also resulted in Desmond temporarily getting knocked back in time a few years and reliving his experiences in England. As Desmond explains it, his turning the key must have "detonated the electromagnetic anomaly". Boy, I'd love to know what that electromagnetic anomaly is, that's for sure.

But back to Desmond experiencing his deja vu. One of the cool things about this is that it's the first time that time travel is legitimately brought up on the show, something that won't be touched upon again until some time in the middle of the fourth season, with Daniel Faraday, and again with Desmond when his mind starts switching between time periods. It's also the first time we meet Eloise Hawking, although we know nothing about her at the time, and we don't even see her again for another season and a half, when we see her in 2007 helping Ben get The Six back to the island. She introduces us to the idea that you can't change things, and if you do try and change them, the universe has a way of course correcting things. This is all very similar to the ideas that Daniel has shared with the survivors in 1974, regarding the idea that you can't change the past, what happened happened, etc. I thought this dialogue was interesting:

Desmond: I'm going to spend the rest of my life with her.

Hawking: No, you're not.

At the time you take that to mean that he's not going to propose to Penny, he's going to leave her and go join the Royal Scottish Army, and so on. But it makes you wonder if there's more to it than that. Hawking says that Desmond is not supposed to end up with Penny. So the fact that he did end up with her, in 2004, if that's something that truly can last. There has been speculation that the reason Ben was all bloodied and battered before getting on the Ajira flight was because he went to kill Penny; well that certainly sounds like a way for the universe to course correct the fact that Desmond and Penny aren't supposed to be together, doesn't it?

Here are some other quick hits that I picked up on:

-There are a lot of old people in Juliet's book club. I've been noticing that in the 1970s the Dharma Initiative doesn't have a lot of old people, and the Others in the 1950s didn't really have many old people either. I really have no theories on what any of that means, I've just been noticing myself paying attention to what groups of people at what times in history have old people among them.

-It's probably nothing, but in 2004, when Desmond is late getting back to the hatch to turn the numbers, there is a big rumbling on the island, which would naturally be indicative of an earthquake. And yet, when Ben comes out of his house, he immediately starts looking up in the sky. He couldn't be expecting the plane crash, could he? Again, like I said, probably nothing, but it was a little odd that his first instinct was to scan the sky.

-Juliet's first interaction with Sawyer is shocking him in the neck. Talk about love at first sight.

-Something I had forgotten was a flashback of Sun as a child (6 years old?) breaking a crystal figurine and blaming it on the maid, knowing she will get fired. I know there is the idea that she was once on the island, and this doesn't disprove that, just something to keep in mind.

-I still love that Kate & Sawyer were working on a runway that wasn't even going to be mentioned again or used for another two seasons.

-Even though it's a game from over four years ago, the scene where Ben shows Jack the Red Sox winning the World Series is still incredibly surreal and awesome all at once.

-In Episode 3.3, where Locke's flashbacks involve his time at the community farm, the hitchhiker/undercover sheriff he brings into the group was wearing a Geronimo Jackson shirt, that he said was his dad's. Nice little nugget of information, since the Geronimo Jackson references seem to be almost exclusively on the island.

-The other polar bear on the island, in his cave were the skeletons of some Dharma people. I had forgotten this, just thought it was interesting since I would assume the Dharma people were the ones that brought the polar bears on the island.

-Saw our first glimpse of Nikkie & Paolo. I lol'd a bit. I can't believe the writers thought they were a good idea.

-I had forgotten how convincing Juliet was as a "bad guy" when she was first introduced. She's a pretty cool customer all around, actually. At times she's almost more mysterious than Ben. It's really tough to get a read on her at times.

-When Karl was being tortured, one of the images that appeared said "God loved you as He loved Jacob"

-Juliet's ex-husband getting hit by that bus was right up there with Arzt getting blown up and that reporter whose name escapes me at the moment getting hit by that meteor outside of Hurley's chicken place. Totally hilarious.

-I'd love to know why Widmore grew up to be such an enormous tool. I know he was a bit of a hot head back in the day, and I guess he's probably a little bitter at life after Ben gets him voted off the island, but man, he is straight up brutal to Desmond when he asks for his blessing to marry Penny.

Alright, that was entirely more than I was planning on writing. I'll see how long it takes for me to knock out another 8 episodes. Hopefully not too long. I'm definitely looking forward to watching Nikki and Paolo get buried alive.

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Entertainment - LOST 5.11 Follow Up]]>One thing I forgot to mention was the fact that Eloise Hawking and Charles Widmore are still on the island according to Richard. I think this means that Charles is running the show, and if I had to guess, I would say that he and Eloise are "together" in whatever sense of the word.

This also means that there must be a little Daniel running around on the island. Let's go one step further and think about the idea that you can't be on the island if your younger self is there. I still maintain that's the real reason Charlotte disappeared, not because she died. So what if Sawyer's cryptic answer to Jack's question about Daniel being on the island was due to the fact that Dainel was born some time in the past three years, resulting in his older self ceasing to exist?

What if the baby Dr. Chang had wasn't Miles, but what if he has another baby in the future, and that does end up being Miles. Perhaps Miles ends up disappearing as well. Just think about the idea of someone being brought into existence resulting in their future selves ceasing to exist.

I thought it was a cool idea, it was something my friends at work were throwing around. But that's not why I wanted to make this follow up post.

My blogger buddy Mr. Goat has once again outdone himself in his LOST recap this week, doing a fantastic job of discussing time travel and how it relates to the show in general. I encourage you to go check out his whole post, but I wanted to post the snippet about time travel here, because it's a must read, in my opinion.

"OK, you know what?

Let's really talk about the time-travel in this show. It actually is the opposite of confusing, and I'm going to prove it to you.

In fact, let me make a couple statements, and then we'll get to the proof.

1) This show has always been about time travel, and in fact has been time-traveling since the very first episodes.

2) If you've been watching, you have been subconsciously understanding all of this time travel / inevitability stuff all along, with zero confusion. I promise.

Let's unpack it.

First of all, consider the notion of time travel. Here you are, puttering about in the present, when suddenly -- whoosh! -- you are transported back 10 years, or 20, or five or three months. OK so far? What had been the present for you is now the future. What was the past is now the present. You check it out, see what you see, then -- whoosh! -- you are back to your old "present" day, and the past is past again. Future just became present. The whole thing lasted eight minutes. You are eight minutes older.

That is what a flashback is.

Consider a standard, Season 1 - 3 Locke-back. You are watching Locke in "present day" island action, he's helping Charlie find his guitar or something, maybe hunting a boar. Then -- whoosh! -- we are back ten years, and he is continuing his drama in the past with his con-artist maybe-dad, his girlfriend, his crap job, and the rest of it. So there are in effect two Lockes. Past Locke and present-day island Locke. Now, you have no problem with this. This happens all the time in movies and TV and books. It's fine.

But here's something else you have no problem understanding. Nothing is going to happen to this past Locke that will change present-day island. Locke. In fact, it is exactly the opposite. Anything that you see happen to past Locke, up to and including a possible life-ending injury, will and can only ever result in who and what present-day Locke is.

So, Locke can NOT die in the flashback. You know this. Why? Perspective. You've seen the future. Locke's alive in the future. Thus, he cannot die in a flashback, even if he seems to be dead even briefly, QED. What's more, I doubt any of you have had any problems understanding this on a very instinctive level.

This is exactly the position of our time traveling heroes. They are living a flashback instead of watching it, and that is the only difference. So, what had been the past for them is now the present. Since they haven't seen it before, these events are new to them. However, nothing is going to happen to change what they know the future was like. In fact, it is exactly the opposite. Anything they do, whether by action (Kate, Sayid, Sawyer) or inaction (Jack), will and can only ever result in the future that they've already seen.

Is it any wonder now that Jack seems resigned to fate? He's grasped this somehow.

The flashback structure that we've seen since the beginning is simply the illustration of the reality that was coming. Shadows on the walls of the cave, so to speak.

Now, let's flip it.

Imagine it is 2014, and Lost has been off the air for a while. Some enterprising young geeks have taken all the footage of the now-wrapped show and re-spliced it in precise chronological order. Now imagine that we are people who've never seen the show, and we watch THAT.

I don't know what is coming over the next 20 something episodes, but basically it would go like this:

We'd see some flashes of time jumping Locke/Sawyer/Juliet throughout island history. They'd be desperate, talking about people and places and situations with which we are unfamiliar. Interspersed with this we'd see whatever we are going to see of the origins of Jacob and Richard and the others. In the 50s, you'd see the U.S. Army come and the time travelers would appear again.

We'd start seeing events from the perspective of a very young John Locke. The first "flashbacks", though we wouldn't think of them as such. We'd see Dharma show up and whatever footage we are going to get of that.

We'd start seeing strange scenes of characters that we didn't know. A young Korean girl. A little Hispanic boy. Others.

Then the main action would get going in the late seventies. Some people would arrive. We'd recognize them from the time flashes. Time travelers. Sawyer. Juliet. Miles. Daniel. Jin. They'd have mysterious knowledge of the island inhabitants, and some strange knowledge of what was going on. They'd be waiting, but we wouldn't be sure what for.

Then, three years later, some more of them would just appear on the island. They'd claim they had been on a plane. They'd seem to think that they had been their before. Their relationships with the other time travelers would seem to be complicated and conflicted but generally friendly. A lot of things would happen (that's the rest of season 5 and perhaps season 6).

Then we would start seeing events from the perspective of these interlopers. Somewhat younger, strangers to each other, living their own lives . . . but in the mid to late nineties and up to and through 2004. Juliet will wind up getting recruited by the island people . . . who we would realize know her, even though they pretend not to, and even though she does not know them. We'd notice strange coincidences that seem to be drawing these people together, until they all wind up in Australia, and get on a plane from Sydney back to LA . . .

. . . at which point they crash on an island. They have never seen this island before. They know nothing about it. But the people that were on the island back in the seventies, they remember. And now, you have the perspective of Richard Alpert and Benjamin Linus. Of Ellie Hawking and Charles Widmore. They are the ones who have been watching this story in chronological order.

And they know that nothing can possibly happen to Jack and Kate and Jin and Sawyer and Locke and Juliet. Because these people haven't gone back in time yet. They will, because they have. They will do the things they are going to do when they get there, because they already did. But until then, it would be impossible for anything to happen to them that would change who they are going to be when they go back to the late seventies. In fact, it is exactly the opposite. Anything the "others" do, whether by action (Ben) or inaction (Richard, at least for a while), will and can only ever result in who and what Jack and Sawyer, etc. will become when they go back to the seventies.

It's no secret that I have had a strong dislike for Kate since...well, since the show started. One of our first impressions of Kate came to us from the US Marshall that was extraditing her back to the States from Australia. He told Jack (and all of us) way back then that she was bad news. It was certainly good advice. Kate is not a "good" person. She may do good things, but often times it's for her own self-serving needs. And there are plenty of bad things she does, too. Basically, Kate is probably the most selfish person on the show, but it's very easy for people to overlook that because she's quite attractive. I thought Cassidy did a nice job of calling out Kate on why she kept Aaron; she did it for herself, in typical Kate fashion.

But here's where things changed. She not only came to terms with that, but she then resolved to fix what had been done. She gave Aaron to Claire's mother, which ultimately is where he belongs (Well, he might belong on the island, but you know what I mean), and then Kate told her she was going back to the island to find Claire. Wow, a surprisingly selfless act from Kate. But it doesn't stop there. Once on the island, she goes out of her way, to no benefit of her own (If anything it's quite detrimental to her future on the island) and helps save Benjamin Linus' life, even with knowing who Ben is and what he will do when he grows up. I was...impressed. There was no "doing this for me" attitude during the entire episode. By far, this was the best thing Kate has ever done on this show. So if this his her new attitude on life, bring it on.

On the flip side, we have Jack "What's the Hippocratic Oath?" Shepherd. The man has been ousted from his leadership role, and contrary to what I may have said before, does seem to be enjoying it a little. But not enough to want to save a 12-year old's life.

I think it's interesting to look at this situation from both sides. I do think Jack brought up some interesting points. They can't change the past, so Ben doesn't die from this, so let the island figure it out. (Hmm, talking about the island like it's an entity, sounds like John Locke to me) Jack channels his inner Locke a little bit more when he tells Juliet he came back to the island because he was supposed to. He seems to be taking a very passive approach to everything, possibly becoming more accepting of this idea of fate, and destiny.

On the other hand, Jack is a doctor, and doctor's do have an oath to help people. I honestly couldn't care less what Ben grows up to be or to or anything like that, you're a doctor, and he's twelve, he hasn't killed anyone, go help him. Plus, if you do believe this idea that you can't change what happened, then why refuse to help save his life? If you know he lives, then why fight it for your own petty reasons? I just get annoyed by Jack's stubborn selfishness sometimes. And now he's passive about it, which I think dislike even more.

Some quick hits about this week's show:

-I think it's funny that LOST fans (myself included) spend all week debating the mysteries of the previous episode, when it's all going to be explained to us in the first ten minutes of next week's show anyways. Take Ben, for example. All everyone has been talking about is if Ben is alive or not, what it means for the future, changing the past, etc. In the first 30 seconds of this week's episode, we find out Ben is alive. In the first fifteen minutes, Miles explains to us that you can't change the past, Sayid always shot Ben, and so on. See? Easy enough. But we're all so impatient and want all the answers, so we shall continue to talk and talk, because it's fun like that.

-Speaking of Miles, his conversation with Hurley was quite hilarious. I have no doubt that the writers wrote that conversation that way on purpose, just to try and emulate the fans (Which is doubly impressive since they wrote and filmed this months ago). I hope we get more interaction with the two of them, they have good comedic chemistry together.

-Kudos to the writers again on their handling of Jack/Juliet/Sawyer/Kate. That thing had bad soap opera drama written all over it when Jack and Kate got back to the island, and they've really dealt with the whole situation quite well. Sawyer and Kate have sort of come to terms with their old relationship, while Sawyer has also reaffirmed his relationship with Juliet. And not that there was ever a relationship there, but Juliet sort of put Jack in his place after the whole Ben incident.

-I think there are going to be some serious repercussions from Kate & Sawyer taking Ben to the Others. I mean, ideally it would be great to get this all fixed and sweep it under the rug so that no one's the wiser, but do I honestly think that's going to happen? Not so much. Horace is going to be none too thrilled.

-Aaron is not a good fake sleeper. Just wanted to mention that.

-Anyone else think that woman walking with Aaron in the grocery store looked a whole lot like Claire from the back? Such a tease.

-Richard is going to fix Ben, but there are some consequences. He says Ben won't remember any of this, and that he will always be "one of us". What exactly won't he remember? Being healed? Being brought into the jungle? Being shot? His whole life? What does that mean, exactly? Very vague statement by Richard.

-I gotta admit, I like the idea of the Oceanic Survivors being the reason Ben is who he is.

-So Richard took Ben to the Temple. I'm tired of the mystery of the Temple, GIVE ME ANSWERS!

-How priceless was the look on Ben's face when he woke up and Locke was just sitting there, grinning at him? Hell, I bet Locke would even agree it was worth dying to have that moment.

Short(er) post this week, it looks like. Next week looks like it could be quite the episode. Ben episodes are always great because so much of what he does is a mystery, so his flashbacks always help explain a lot, and by the looks of the preview, his flashbacks look to be very all-encompassing. I've decided this Sunday to sit down and try and watch Season 3 all day, no real reason other than I've already re-watched the first two seasons, and Sunday is a relatively chill day in the world of sports. Maybe if I find myself picking up on a lot of stuff that I had forgotten I'll jot it down and post it on here.

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Entertainment - LOST 5.10 Thoughts]]>Overall I think I liked the direction of this episode better than last week's. I don't think we've quite gotten to that point where the next plot point that the story is driving to is clear yet, I do think some of the wheels have started turning. I believe that Widmore's "war" may be the last big push for this show, and I wonder if that's what we'll spend the rest of the season building towards. It seems like some seeds may have been planted last night with Sayid, Ben, and Dharma.

The Timeline. I talked about this a bit in my followup post on Monday, and to be honest, I'm not sure if the events from yesterday's episode did anything to further that theory. I think from a basic level it appears to give the theory credibility, since Ben was shot, that could easily change his decision to lead the Others, meaning the Others never killed off Dharma, which led us to the abandoned processing center that Frank & Sun where in. But this show is constantly dealing with the ideas of fate and destiny, in which case, how do we know Ben getting shot isn't all part of the process of him joining the Others? I still think that building Sun & Frank were in is very suspicious (Not to mention the fact that the numbers were still playing when Frank was calling for help on the plane, something I forgot to bring up, implying that maybe Rousseau never changed the recording), but the jury is still out on whether or not what Sayid did actually changed anything.

Sayid. It's hard to go wrong when you focus an episode around Sayid. Sayid is actually the person I would trust most to be my leader if I had been on Oceanic 815, as opposed to Jack, or Locke, or even Sawyer for that matter. He marches to the beat of his own drum, only his drum beat tends to be better than everyone else's. It was actually kind of refreshing to have a straight up flashback-filled episode of LOST, I feel like we haven't had one in forever.

As soon as they showed the "Previously on LOST" clip at the beginning with Sayid killing that guy on the golf course, I knew that was why he was in handcuffs. And I love the idea that he didn't even want to be on the plane, but ended up there anyways. It explains the look for surprise (from both Ben & Sayid) when they see each other on the plane. I'm assuming/hoping that during the rest of the season we will get to see similar flashbacks for Hurley and Kate.

Some other random thoughts:

-Like I said, I think some of what we saw had a great purpose to it in terms of the upcoming story arc. I know the bounty hunter said she was working for the family of the man he killed in Guam, but I can't help but wonder if it was her responsibility to make sure he was on that flight because of Charles Widmore. Was Sayid being on that plane really fate, or because someone wanted him there? Sayid is very good at what he does, he would be a valuable asset for anyone who wanted to engage in a battle.

-"He's Our You" was a great episode title, and I loved how they used it in the show. I also like the idea that the 1970s Dharma version of Sayid is just some hippy that gives people drugs to make them tell the truth. Sound about right. I bet Sawyer is real glad right about now that he made up that LeFleur name for himself, don't you think?

-I love Juliet's subtlety. "Well, I'm glad someone else told you about Sawyer and I because I couldn't think of a way to tell you without it sounding like I was telling you to stay away (So I'll just drop it into the subtext here: Stay away)"

-Phil is a douche. When I see him all I can think of is him playing Jeremy Piven's assistant in Old School. Just wanted to get that out there.

-Before I forget, thanks to my friend Justin for pointing something out from last week's episode (Which I had to rewatch online since there was no Pop Up LOST this week!). When Sun was following Ben to the canoes, Ben at one point in time pulled off his sling and checked his arm, which seemed to be miraculously healed. Very interesting turn of events, since the last time Ben was on the island it was very clear that whatever it was that was healing people, wasn't working for Ben, thanks to his tumor and slow post-surgery recovery time. I have no idea what that means, but it's something to think about.

-It was very interesting to see Sayid become a man of destiny once he went back on the island and saw Ben. He's normally the rational one, who does what has to be done, and doesn't put his own interests over others. And perhaps that's all this Sayid was doing to. He knows what Ben is, what he's done (or in this case will do), and decided he needed to do something about it. I had no doubt that he wanted to kill Ben, but I am very surprised that he actually went ahead and did it.

-So Ben called out Sayid in Santo Domingo and said he was a killer at his core. Did he say that because he knows Sayid's file, or did he say that because he remembers Sayid putting a bullet into his chest when he was twelve years old?

-I was originally of the opinion that Sayid killed Ben, but Ben in 2007 would still be alive because any changes to the island's past didn't affect the rest of the world, and since Ben wasn't on the island when Sayid went back in time, he was unaffected by his death as a child. I think based on what others have said that I'm going to change my mind on that; I really liked that someone mentioned the fact that there is a very accomplished surgeon on the island (And let's face it, the idea of Jack doing life-saving surgery on a twelve year old Ben is awesome on so many levels that it has to happen). He got shot in the chest, not the head, so while it's not looking good for him, Jin's still there, so it's not like he's going to be laying there for three days before someone finds him.

However, this still leads back to my question earlier regarding fate. Was Ben supposed to get shot? Logically, you'd have to think this would affect his relationship with the Others, him getting shot by "one of them" and all. But then again, maybe it's supposed to happen that way. Does a meeting with Richard down the road perhaps clear the air on Sayid's place on the island? And what exactly is Sayid's place on the island?

-I'm amused that any time one of the survivors tells anyone else the truth about what really happened to them with the plane crash and the island, people just think they're crazy (Hurley telling his mom, Sayid telling Horace).

-I think Rose & Bernard are working for Ben and they set up the flaming VW bus as a distraction. (Note: I may be lying about that, and just wanted to mention Rose & Bernard since they're still completely MIA)

-Does anyone else want to know the names of the other kids on the island so we can see how many of them we know?

-Those people that were going after Sayid, after he broke Hurley out of the mental institution, were they all part of the same group of people as the bounty hunter? If I had to guess I would say they were Widmore's people, and really, what are the odds that a group of Widmore's people would go after Sayid like that, and then all of a sudden this bounty hunter finally shows up working for some family in Guam. I dunno, I really feel like Widmore was behind all of that.

I apologize if I missed anything awesome to discuss. Next week's preview looked particularly vague, and all we know is that the Dharma people aren't happy with all the shenanigans that have been going on in camp. Hoping for another flashback episode, maybe we can find out what it took for Kate to dump Aaron at the drop of a hat.

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Entertainment - LOST 5.9 Follow-Up]]>Two LOST posts in one week! What is this world coming two?

I was listening to a LOST podcast last week, and a couple of ideas were brought up that I found very interesting and wanted to briefly discuss.

The first is regarding Sun, specifically the fact that she is stuck in the present while Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sayid all went back to 1977. Someone brought up the idea that the reason Ben didn't go back to 1977 was because he was already on the island in 1977. So perhaps Sun was already on the island in 1977 as well. To take it even further, perhaps Sun was the baby with Pierre Chang:

This certainly isn't a foolproof theory, but it does answer a couple of questions. First, there has been (and will continue to be) lots of speculation on who the baby is. I'd say it's safe to assume it's someone we already know, it's not like the LOST writers to just show us a random baby and then never mention it again. Second, it tells us why Sun didn't go back with everyone else. There is undoubtedly a reason why, we just don't know what it is.

Now, what do we also know that seems to counter this theory? Well, for starters, Locke didn't go back, and he's not on the island in 1977. However, Locke was also dead, so that may have prevented him from going back. Also, Frank didn't go back. Now Frank is an interesting case. He was never on Oceanic 815, he came to the island on the freighter, so you might think that him being on the freighter precludes him from going back to 1977. However, Daniel & Miles both ended up back there (Granted they weren't on the Ajira flight, they were already on the island when they flashed back). Also, I've always felt that Frank being on Ajira 316 was a "course correction" in Frank's life, considering he was supposed to be the pilot for Oceanic 815.

So, should Frank have gone back? I think I lean towards yes, since Miles and Daniel went back. Does this mean Frank was on the island in 1977? We have seen no evidence that he was, but Frank is also a largely unknown quantity. Really, outside of the fact that he was a pilot for Oceanic and was supposed to fly flight 815, we know practically nothing about him, including why he was chosen to be on the freighter headed towards the island. It's certainly possible that he's been there before, and if that's the case, it's probably a good bet Sun was there as well.

Idea/theory #2 that was thrown out there was regarding the state of the island when Sun and Frank got there. The dock they arrived on, the Dharma barracks, completely abandoned. And not just vacant, but it looks like whoever was there up and left and didn't think twice about how things looked when they left. It seemed a little odd to me that the barracks looked so disheveled, considering the Others were still on the island and it would only make sense for them to go back to living there after everyone left. So someone suggested that the island that Sun and Frank are on is set in an alternate present than what we saw the last time everyone was on the island in 2004.

We've leaned on Daniel Faraday to explain the rules on time travel, what can and can't be done, etc., and while he seems to be of the idea that what happened in the past happened, and you can't change it, our knowledge of the rules are fairly vague, so at this point I'm not willing to rule out anything when it comes to the timeline of the island.

Widmore spoke of a war to Locke. Could it be that the barracks we saw Sun and Frank in are a result of that war in the past?

Let's take a look at a couple of screenshots from last week's episode:

First, the "Processing Center" circa 1977:

Now, the "Processing Center" circa 2007:

I know the last three pictures are a little dark, but it would certainly appear that these are the same two buildings, yes? The doors are the same, the hanging signs appear to be the same, the general layout with the big open floor seems to be the same. Well, let's take a look at a few screen shots from The Man From Tallahassee, when Kate was captured and put into their rec room:

Certainly looks like the same building, doesn't it? Again, the doors and window are the same, the light switches next to the door are the same as in 1977, same open floor layout. At the very least in real life they used the same building; whether or not it's the same building on the show remains to be seen.

But if it is the same building? Then how do you explain it going from looking like the processing center for new recruits in 1977, turned into a rec room with pool table, pinball machine, etc. used by the Others in 2004, turned into an abandoned (and trashed) processing center in 2007?

Again, this isn't a foolproof theory by any means. There is still the matter of the runway that Frank landed on, which as far as we know was built by the Others (They had Kate & Sawyer helping out in Season 3). And it could just be that the rec room the Others had was in a similar looking building within the barracks, and the processing center was just left to rot somewhere else. It's certainly plausible, since all the houses they have look the same anyways. But, it's possible.

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Entertainment - LOST 5.9 Thoughts]]>Slower episode this week, as the primary focus was on integrating the Six back into island society. We had the story fleshed out a little for us, and I feel like the show is in kind of an interesting spot at the moment.

The driving force of this season was the Oceanic Six trying to get back to the island, and on the island, Locke was trying to stop the island from moving, and also leave to bring back the Six. Well, here we are now, with the Six back on the island (albeit in two different times). So...what now? Locke is back on the island, so he can lead his people. Sawyer, Juliet, Miles and Jin have all moved on with their lives as a part of the Dharma Initiative. Kate, Hurley and Jack have all started to integrate themselves into the Initiative as well. Sayid is in a bit of a pickle right now, but he too is integrating into the island's society. Sun and Frank seem to be on a mission to reach everyone else in 1977.

But where do we go from here? What's the ultimate point of the show? I mean, I love that we're learning more about the island's past in 1977, but what is it building to? Dharma's going to die in the purge, and that would be quite the anticlimactic way for our friends to go, wouldn't it? Are they ultimately going to try and get back to the present? Are they going to try and leave the island again?

It just seems to me that, at this moment, the show has lost (no pun intended) its identity. That's not to say that everything won't change next week, but when we hit our one week break, the survivors had generally accomplished what they had set out to do, and now seem to be without an ultimate goal, save for Sun and Frank. I think it's very important for the writers to reveal the next (or last?) chapter in the show, so that it doesn't lose any of its momentum.

But I'll get off my soap box now. The writers were kind enough this week to fill us in on what exactly happened on Ajira flight 316. As we all know, Jack, Hurley, Kate, and Sayid all disappeared off the plane, at seemingly the same time the plane itself and everyone else on it, went from wherever they were in the Pacific, to the island(s). Frank managed to land the plane on a runway on the secondary island, and then Sun knocked Ben out and went with Frank over to the main island. Nothing really surprising there, but still it's nice to actually see first hand.

Meanwhile, in 1977, the every crafty Sawyer devises a plan to sneak Jack, Kate and Hurley into the Dharma Initiative. Sayid, on the other hand, was wandering around on his own, and was discovered by Dharma and is being treated as a hostile.

So there's a quick synopsis of what happened, let's talk about some of it in a little more detail:

-I talked to my friend Justin about this a little bit, but I loved the scene with Lapidus and Cesar right after everyone got off the plane. Frank was channeling his inner Jack when talking about sticking together, and staying on the beach so that everyone remains safe, while Cesar wanted to go off into the jungle, and check out some buildings he saw off in the distance. Great parallels to Season One with Oceanic 815.

-Did you like the runway they landed on? Convenient that the Others had Kate & Sawyer working on that very same runway three years ago. It's almost like Ben knew he was going to need one for a plane that was going to try and land on the island down the road...

-So, it's been three years, and apparently the Others have completely abandoned the Dharma complex? Why? Where did they all go? Did they go back to the Temple?

-Rose & Bernard? Anyone?

-I like the idea of Christian Shepard just hanging out in an abandoned village by himself. Interesting though, that Sun and Frank can both see him. So that's Jack, Locke, Claire, Sun, and Frank that have all seen and talked to Christian. Quite a few people.

-I wonder what this journey involves. Does accomplishing this journey mean they'll go back to join everyone else, or will everyone else end up joining them?

-Back in '77, we see Mr. Radzinsky, the guy who worked in the Swan prior to Desmond arriving and ultimately took a shotgun and blew his head off...or at least that's the story we heard. Only apparently the Swan didn't exist yet, and it looks like Radzinsky was instrumental in designing it. In 1977 he worked in the communications facility. The introduction of this previously talked about character actually opens up a lot of questions.

Was he the first person to man the Swan?
Why did they want to keep the Swan's location a secret from the Others?
How did Radzinsky survive the purge? Was he in the Swan at the time?
If he used to work for Dharma, what was his purpose in creating the map of the stations on the blast wall in the Swan?

-I hope it was Sawyer's idea to make Jack a custodian, because that is quite hilarious. It would certainly seem like it was, because Hurley's a chef, and Kate appears to be a mechanic, probably so Juliet can keep an eye on her.

-Speaking of Juliet, I'm significantly less concerned about Kate screwing things up between her and Sawyer now. Juliet's not stupid, there is no way that she isn't completely aware of what's going on, and I guarantee that she put the smack down on Kate if she tries anything. At the same time, Sawyer isn't exactly thrilled to see everyone back, Kate included. So try as she might, I don't think Kate has a chance.

-My favorite part of the whole episode had to be Sawyer putting Jack in his place. The whole scene really illustrated the dynamic shift of everything on the island from the last time they were all together. I've mentioned this before, but I'm really just amazed at how differently Jack, Kate, and Hurley's lives have all progressed over the past three years compared to Sawyer, Juliet, Jin, and Miles. The first three, they come back to the island, and they seem to be exactly the same, nothing is really different about their lives, despite the fact that they've been off the island for three years and have had a chance to re-integrate with society. On the other hand, Jack, Juliet, Jin and Miles have all moved on with their lives, and they really seem at peace with what they're doing. Now that's not to say they haven't been keeping an eye out for the return of Locke & Co., because they have, but I don't really think they care if they see them again, because they already have what they need, the Six don't fill a void in their lives anymore.

And now, three years down the road, Sawyer has become a very respected individual among the Dharma community, a leader of sorts. And when Jack comes back, he immediately wants to take control of the situation, know what's going on, what the plan is, who's doing what, busy busy busy. But that boat has sailed. This is Sawyer's house now, he's in charge, and not only does he not want Jack's help, he doesn't need it. Jack is a doctor, and used to being in a position of power. But not anymore. Now he's just a janitor, while Sawyer is Head of Security, and a force to be reckoned with. The tables have turned, and it will be interesting to see how Jack handles that situation going forward.

-Any thoughts on what happened to Daniel? Is he dead? Did he go crazy? Did he leave Dharma and go with the Others? Does that mean when we saw him in the season premiere it was at some point in time between now and three years ago?

-Hey look, it's mini-Ben! While we don't know for sure, I think it's a safe bet to say that the flashbacks we saw of Ben seeing his mother in the jungle, and meeting Richard when he tried to run away, have already happened. It would explain Ben's fascination with a hostile being captured, which is why he brought Sayid a sandwich. I bet Sayid has a general clue of what's going on, as well. No one has told him what year it is, but Sayid's a pretty observant guy, the fact that the Dharma Initiative is up and running, and they're driving around in a VW bus among other things probably led him to believe something is up, and this kid introducing himself as Ben probably raises some red flags as well.

Alright, that's all I can think of for this week. Next week looks like we'll see lots of explosions, I'm guessing they're probably Kate's fault.

In February 2003, Notarbartolo was arrested for heading a ring of Italian thieves. They were accused of breaking into a vault two floors beneath the Antwerp Diamond Center and making off with at least $100 million worth of loose diamonds, gold, jewelry, and other spoils. The vault was thought to be impenetrable. It was protected by 10 layers of security, including infrared heat detectors, Doppler radar, a magnetic field, a seismic sensor, and a lock with 100 million possible combinations. The robbery was called the heist of the century, and even now the police can't explain exactly how it was done.

The loot was never found, but based on circumstantial evidence, Notarbartolo was sentenced to 10 years. He has always denied having anything to do with the crime and has refused to discuss his case with journalists, preferring to remain silent for the past six years.

Until now.

Also, I love that stealing $100 million in jewels gets you 10 years in jail (Well, 5 with good behavior).

Go congratulate LJ on her second place finish in the $125k, she cashed for over $18k!!! Well done!

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Entertainment - LOST 5.8 Thoughts]]>This whole series of events raises some interesting questions about Widmore's involvement in...well, everything. Since Widmore got Locke to go to Australia, does that mean he knew the fate of Oceanic 815? Is that why he staged the plane crash, because he knew what really happened to the plane? And if he knew, does that mean he obtained that information from Eloise Hawking? We know he has an extensive history with Hawking since she was on the island with him at one time, and we also know that he's still aware of her whereabouts (Per his meeting with Desmond), so it's not a stretch to infer that he learned about a "window" opening for entry to the island from Eloise. However, that makes me wonder why, if Widmore did know about the window, and knew about the flight, why he himself wasn't on the plane, if he does really want to return to the island.

The Widmore/Hawking relationship also leads me to believe that what I said last week about Ben and Hawking is probably true. Ben knew who Eloise Hawking is, they had probably even met and had maybe been on the island at the same time for a period of time. But I believe when Ben got off the island, that he wasn't entirely sure how to get back, and I don't think he was aware of The Lamp Post, or that Hawking was in it, so Locke's reveal to Ben that Eloise was supposed to help him led to his death, and also led Ben to Eloise, which we saw from them working together. It does make you wonder what Eloise's ultimate purpose is in this, though, if she really is/was helping out Widmore, and at the same time, clearly helping out Ben as well, even though the two are adversaries to say the least.

But anyways, that's just something to think about that I was pondering during Pop Up LOST last night.

Our new episode last night I thought was a fantastic character piece on Sawyer and Juliet that also gave us some nice exposition on the Dharma Initiative, their role on the island, as well as how our stranded survivors came to be in their "present day" Dharma jobs.

It appears that our friends are now stuck in 1974, at a time when the Dharma Initiative is still thriving on the island, in spite of the Others. At some point in time, Dharma struck a truce with the Others. We don't know the details of this truce, aside from the fact that Dharma killing any of the Others is against the rules. Richard Alpert (who else) appears to be the spokesperson for the Others, and I can't help but think that if Widmore was telling the truth to Locke, that he is still on the island as well, perhaps as the leader of the Others.

Horace is currently in charge of the Dharma Initiative, who we previously met in a dream of Locke's, before Locke discovers the mass grave for all the Dharma people. We also saw him welcome Ben and his father onto the island, and before that, in a moment I had previously forgotten about, he and his wife at the time Olivia (Ben's school teacher on the island) were present at Ben's birth on the side of the road. They were offering to help take Ben's mother to the hospital before she died. So we know that Horace is in charge when our survivors show up (and is apparently in charge until he dies in 1992 with everyone else), and we know that between that time and three years down the road, he will (presumably) marry Amy (Or Michelle Dessler for all you 24 people out there).

Charlotte is still on the island, albeit as a five-year old child at the moment, as she told Daniel before she died. Ben may or may not yet be on the island, but I would not be surprised at all if we encountered him as a child at some point in time while we're in the past. Dr. Chang is most likely around, he may have just been in another hatch at the time.

As far as our survivors go, we know that they've integrated into Dharma society in their three years with them. Sawyer has become head of security (If there's a job he was born to play, that's probably it), Miles is one of his security lackeys, Faraday is still an unknown, although from the season premiere it would appear that he is a construction worker, or an engineer, or something along those lines. Juliet meanwhile, is a jack of all trades apparently and can work as an auto mechanic, and Jin, well, we're not quite sure what Jin does yet aside from drive around and look for Locke. Sawyer seems to be a well respected member amongst the Dharma community, and he and Juliet are in love with each other, which is really only appropriate considering their fantastic chemistry together.

Everything seems to be going fantastically on the island, then Jack, Hurley and Kate show up and look to be ready to disrupt the harmony.

Let's go through some quick hits:

-For the record, I love the fact that it used to be Kate & Sawyer, and then Juliet & Jack, and now it's Jack & Kate (sort of) and Sawyer & Juliet. Oh, and Kate's gonna screw this up somehow and I'm going to hate her even more than I hate her now. Go back to messing up your own relationships, don't go around ruining others.

-Small side note, because I've discussed this people before, after their last time flash, Sawyer was still holding onto the rope, even though wherever they went to had no hole, and no well, and therefore no rope. So I think we can infer that anything that someone is touching, or holding, or sitting in (read: the boat when they were in the water and flashed) comes along with them, even if they didn't originally have it with them before they got there.

-Faraday said Charlotte disappeared because she died. I wonder if that's true, or if she disappeared because she already exists in the time period they ended up in. I think it may have been possible to see yourself when they were moving through time, but once they reached a fixed time period again, I wonder if there are rules against something like that. I could be totally off base, and she could very well have just stopped moving through time when she died, but it's a possible alternative.

-Hey look, it's the STATU...oh wait, nevermind it's gone. God this show is such a tease sometimes. People have been going on and on and on about the damn 4-toed foot from some statue that we saw at the end of Season 2, so they decide to finally show us the statue...for five seconds, and then they flash again and it's gone. Bastards. Tell us more!

-Hmm, a baby born on the island? And it was Amy's, so unless she was taking a vacation and got pregnant then, it would appear to have been conceived on the island as well. So...in 1974, babies are okay. But at some point in time, that becomes not okay, and the Others have to start importing children in order to keep their numbers up (Perhaps by 1988 when Rousseau had her baby?). I wonder if the baby has any significance in the grand scheme of things.

-I wonder what it feels like to have the woman that you love die in your arms, and then later that day see her again, only she's five years old. I think bizarre is an understatement.

-The character of Sawyer is fantastic; this can't be said enough. We never got to see his leadership abilities before because it was all about the power struggle between Jack and Locke, but he's really had the opportunity to come into his own. I thought his scene with Richard was great. He knew just what to say to not only tell Richard what his story was, but also to give him enough credibility so that Richard would believe him.

-"Your friend with the eyeliner" Easily line of the night.

-Sorry, need to gush about Sawyer a little more; loved the scene with him and Horace, talking about if three years is enough time to get over someone. We don't get to see it much, but when Sawyer actually opens up to people, that's some of the best stuff on the show right there.

-No more "Lost in Translation" Jin. Now we have "Speaks English with an accent" Jin.

-LeFleur? No wonder he goes by Sawyer. (EDIT: Sorry, forgot his real last name was Ford. My bad)

-Hey, remember Rose, and Bernard, and all the other redshirts with them? Anybody?

Alright, I think it's time to wrap this up. Next week it looks like Sayid will be introduced into the mix, and much to my chagrin it's looking more and more likely that Sun didn't end up in the past with the rest of them, which I can't say I'm happy about. Still holding out hope, though.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=286
Personal - Adventures in Plumbing]]>Fast forward to a few weeks ago. Melissa noticed that water had been collecting in the cabinets underneath our sink for an unknown period of time. Clearly whatever had been ailing the faucet had gotten worse. We stuck a vase under there to collect water while we decided what to do. Well, what started out as one vase became two along with a frying pan, due to the various drips we discovered.

Now obviously we could call a plumber and have them replace the faucet, but plumbers can get very expensive very quickly, so I wanted to see if there was any way for me to do it instead. I'll admit, plumbing is not really my strong suit. I feel pretty comfortable around electronics and carpentry, but things like plumbing and electrical stuff, I just don't know much about it. So the first thing I needed to do was firm up where exactly these leaks were coming from. As is the case with most sinks, there's not much room to maneuver, so it took a little while before I really got a good understanding of what the problem was. Basically, as I said, our faucet was leaking. It was leaking somewhere internally, and water was collecting in the base of the faucet, and dripping through the the three holes in the sink (Our sink has three holes, but our faucet is just the one hole kind). So since this wasn't a problem when any actual pipes, per say, and just a faucet needing replacement, I did some googling, and decided the process looked elementary enough that I should be able to handle it.

After a couple trips to Home Depot, we picked out a new faucet that we liked, and I begun the task of removing the old faucet, which turned out to be easier said than done.

Here's the thing: As I said, you don't have a lot of room to maneuver around underneath a kitchen sink. So in theory, the under side of a faucet should be designed with the expectation that it can be assembled and disassembled as easily as possible. Clearly, whoever designed our old faucet did not follow this same train of thought.

This is the underside of our sink. You can see on the right the three small pipes that lead up into the faucet. If you look closely you can see that the bottom part of the faucet is completely threaded, and a round metal fastener has been screwed onto the faucet to help keep it in place. Certainly a logical idea; the only problem is this metal fastener is two inches wide and COMPLETELY ROUND. What does this mean? Well, under normal circumstances it makes it incredibly difficult to grip at all, let alone get enough pressure to actually unscrew it. As my luck would have it, I wasn't dealing with normal circumstances.

Here's a side view. You see all that lovely orangish color above the metal fastener? That would be rust. As in the fastener is completely rusted to the faucet and is never coming off. As I said, the faucet was leaking internally, so when it was collecting water and dripping out to different places, that included rusting up the faucet itself. Joy.

I spent many hours trying to get this stupid faucet out of the sink, including trying to tear it apart from above, but I just couldn't get it to move. My uncle suggested I go get a vice grip and see if I can get a wide enough grip on the fastener below to unscrew it, or at the very least loosen it ever so slightly. No dice.

After a couple days of this frustration, I had to get it out somehow, because we had no kitchen sink to work with, which makes it fairly difficult to do dishes. So I decided to go with an off-the-wall idea I had; go rent a saw and cut the faucet in half. I figured, it's just a faucet, it can't be that hard to cut through. Plus, if you just run the saw along the top of the sink, and cut the faucet off, the bottom part won't have anything to hold onto and will just drop down. Problem solved. So I went back to Home Depot, rented a sawsall, and went to town on it. And sure enough, I was able to saw right through the faucet, and just like that, problem solved. (On a side note, sawing through metal rules, I encourage everyone to go try it immediately)

Well, now that the hard part was out of the way, actually getting the faucet installed was a relatively painless process.

Hey, look at that. All that faucet has is a nice little bracket, and a small threaded rod that I can attach a nut to. What a convenient little design for something that resides in such a tight and inaccessible area! [/sarcasm]

Here's the finished product. It obviously took longer than I had anticipated, but I guess I just didn't count on old faucet removal to be such a chore. It was actually a really effective project, because it's easy enough that you don't have to know jack about plumbing outside of knowing how to shut the water valves off, yet replacing a kitchen faucet is a good "man's job". Plus, did I mention that I got to saw a faucet in half? Okay then.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=285
Entertainment - Street Fighter IV]]>My first thoughts are that it's a nice upgrade to the Street Fighter II franchise (I know there was a III series, but those were only in arcades, so I don't really count them). It's nothing groundbeakingly different from what you've come to expect from a Street Fighter game. I can start playing as Ryu and pick up right where I left off in SFII. There are some new features I'm still adjusting to, countering moves, super combos, force moves, stuff like that, and at the end of the day if you want to get good at the game, you have to know that stuff.

I really like the graphics, everyone looks roided out of their mind, which took me a second to get used to, but once you do you don't even think about it again. Everything looks really nice and smooth, and depending on how you finish off opponents it can look really nice.

It's a much "bigger" game than any Street Fighter game before it. There are lots of outfit colors to choose from, lots of titles/icons to use when playing online, a lot more stages, more characters, and there are more fighting modes than just the usual Arcade and Vs. The big addition is a Challenge mode, that features Time Trials, Survivor Challenges, among others. Completing these helps you unlock extra options in the game. There is a LOT to do in this game, so while a fighting game doesn't always have a ton of replay value aside from playing with friends, this is a game that actually has a lot to do in single player mode.

Obviously the game has an Online mode as well, which seems to be pretty fluid. I've only played a couple matches online, and of course got my ass handed to me both times, but the process was pretty smooth, I would say, so that's a plus.

One thing I forgot to mention is the handicap feature in Vs. mode. I don't know if this was something that was available in previous games, but when you are playing against another player, you can handicap yourself anywhere from 4 stars (no handicap) to 0 stars (extreme handicap). The handicap does a couple of things; first it lowers the health meter you start out with, and second it weakens your offense and strengthens your opponents' offense. This was helpful for me when I was playing against my brother, who is clearly an inferior Street Fighter player. I knocked my handicap down to 2 stars and it was a much more entertaining matchup.

All in all I think it's a pretty entertaining game to play; I love the Street Fighter series, and IV is a great next chapter. Now I will admit, I don't know if I would have bought it if I had to pay $60 for it (I used a gift card to pay for some of it), because at the end of the day, it's a fighting game, I mean how much can a game change? I already have SF II: HD Remix on my 360, and I don't know that it's worth it to spend $60 on a newer SF game. But that's me. I know some people justify buying a new copy of Madden every year, so I guess it really just depends on whether it's worth it to you or not.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=284
Entertainment - LOST 5.7 Thoughts]]>Also, I noticed something odd about Kate when they went back to the island; she was all wet, as if she had been in the lake. But she hadn't (at least not completely); she was laid out on the rocks. It's probably just a continuity error, I just thought it was strange.

So last night, as expected, we saw the story of Locke from when he got off the island up until he got back to the island, to complement last week's episode where we learned how the Five got back on the island. Seemed like a fairly dark episode all around, don't you think?

-I have some island stuff to discuss, but I'll save it for the end. First thing we get introduced to is Locke, in Tunisia, right where Ben showed up two years earlier. Why do we know it's the same spot? Because Charles Widmore had a camera installed right there.

-So, Charlotte found a DHARMA polar bear skeleton in Tunisia...does that mean the polar bear used to be the leader of the Others as well, but he too had to turn the wheel and get kicked off the island?

-If LOST has done anything consistently over the course of the show, it's been the idea that every character on this show is both good, and bad. They have their character strengths, and their character flaws. And I think that concept has been very apparent with how Charles Widmore and Benjamin Linus have been portrayed this season. We have seen a much softer side of Widmore (Asking Desmond about Penny, taking care of Faraday's girlfriend, meeting him on the island, his scene with Locke), while on the flip side we have started to see a lot more of the "evil" Ben that was much more reminiscent of the Ben we knew when we first met him.

-While we're talking about Widmore and Ben, boy, do they love to lie their asses off or what? You really can't take anything they say seriously, because who knows if they're ever actually telling the truth? Widmore claims he wants Locke and the Six to go back to the island, he wants to help Locke achieve that goal. Somewhat of a change in plans from when he sent a freighter full of mercenaries to kill everyone on the island, no? He seemed pretty genuine, although the one thing that bothered me is that he seemed unfazed when Locke told him that Richard said Locke had to die. Widmore said he wasn't going to let that happen. Widmore knows Richard, shouldn't he take what he has to say a lot more seriously? That made me wonder just how honest Widmore was being with Locke.

-Nice knowing you Abbadon. I'm glad you could take some time during Fringe's American Idol hiatus to grace us with your presence. I'm so used to him being an FBI agent now, it threw me off to see him so casual.

-It's interesting to me that Locke was back for such a short time before he died; I guess I had just assumed that he was back for much longer.

-Not only was Sayid no longer an assassin, but Ben managed to drive him to the point where he joined up with Habitat for Humanity! But then, the next time we see Sayid, he's putting a bullet in someone and helping Hurley break out from the mental institution. I'm curious to see how all that played out.

-WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALT! I have a conspiracy theory that the whole reason the writers skipped the three years after The Six got off the island is so that they could logically write Walt back into the show. "Look, it's the future, so it's okay that he looks like he's 25!" Seriously, puberty hit that kid hard. I'm not gonna lie, I'll be disappointed if this is the end of the Walt character, because it certainly felt that way to me. He was always much more significant than we ever got to see him be, for whatever reason.

-Kate thinks Locke wants to go back to the island because he has no one to love, and apparently Kate loves someone which is why she won't go back to the island. However, the person that she loves is already on the island, so...

-I'd like to think it was Locke's inspiring speech on his hospital bed that got Jack hopping flights across the Pacific trying to find the island again, but I'm going to go out on a limb and assume it was the mention of Christian, and his conversation with Locke, that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

-I wonder if Locke was planning on killing himself because he knew he had to die in order to get everyone back, or if he was telling Ben the truth with his little speech about his failures. Because if it's the former, that takes some balls to follow through on something like that. Quite the leap of faith.

-Ben is quite the interesting guy. Shows up in Locke's hotel room, pleads with him not to kill himself, talks him into it, then kills him two minutes later, and makes it look like suicide anyways. It would appear that Ben wasn't actually going to kill Locke, and only seemed to snap after Locke mentioned Eloise Hawking, which leads to some speculation:

*What was Ben's relationship with Hawking before this moment? Did he have one?

*Was Ben looking for a way back onto the island, and once Locke mentioned that Hawking was supposed to help him, did he then decide he didn't need Locke's help any more? We all know Ben has felt threatened by Locke and the fact that Locke replaced him as leader (Actually, very similar to the relationship between Ben and Widmore if you think about it)

*Did Ben know about the Lamp Post DHARMA station? He had left the island before, but how much of DHARMA's off-island activities was he aware of?

I just can't help but get the feeling that Ben thought Locke could help him get back to the island, but that he didn't know when or how to do it himself, but when Locke mentioned Eloise Hawking (Who Ben probably was at least familiar with from the island), he decided he could do the rest on his own, and got rid of Locke.

-One more thing I wanted to bring up was Widmore's discussion with Locke about a "war" that was coming. Is this a war with Ben? Didn't that war already start when he invaded the island? Where is it going to take place? Who's going to be involved? Is the island the ultimate prize?

-Moving onto island stuff, in the short time we were on the island, I thought we actually learned quite a bit:

*Locke's leg is all better. I know he came back from the dead, so that's not really a big deal, just something I wanted to point out.

*The plane ended up crashing. Without The Five, apparently. So what does that mean?

*The Five went back in time. Everyone else on the plane, did not. Oceanic crashed and left people in two different places. Ajira crashed and left people in two different times. That's what I'm banking on.

*Think about it. When the Survivors on the island were flashing through time, at one point in time they were back at the beach where their old shelter was, only everything was cleared out, gone, as if they were at some point in time in the future. We also saw the Ajira water bottle, and the two boats (That we also saw at the scene of the plane crash). So the plane crash happened in the "present", and not in the past. The only question is, when is the "present"? Are they three years in the future from when Locke was last there?

*Which island did the plane crash on? If it crashed on the main island, then it was far away from where Oceanic crashed, since you can clearly see another island from the beach. Or did it crash on the other island, and Locke was looking at the main island? The hatch, or building, or whatever Cesar was in, I don't remember seeing it before, so who knows where they are, exactly.

*Frank took one of the boats and left. But he took some woman with him. Frank has been to the island, so he's not a fool. So who is this woman that went with him? And where did Frank go? Very curious stuff.

*Why did The Five disappear and go to the past and no one else did? Ben is from the island, but he left, and he didn't disappear. Locke was a survivor of Oceanic, but he left the island, then died, and he didn't disappear. Frank has been to the island before, and he didn't disappear. Everyone else who (I assume) hasn't been to the island didn't disappear. But why? What made those five in particular special from everyone else?

Things are definitely starting to get complicated on the island. If we really have two groups of people stuck in two different time periods, then that opens up a whole set of questions regarding how the people in the past are going to get back to the present, what the people in the present are going to do now that they've crashed on the island, have the Others just been chilling out for three years waiting for Locke to come back, stuff like that. Next week should be pretty emotional, since it's only been 8 episodes for us, but it's been three years for everyone else since they've seen each other. I wonder if Jin's going to be pissed that Sun left their kid back in Korea.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=283
Entertainment - LOST 5.6 Thoughts]]>-First, I was thinking a little bit last week about what Charlotte said to Jin about telling him not to have her come back, and I was pondering what that meant, exactly. Was she talking about Sun? Was she talking about their child? Was she talking about Sun under the assumption she's still pregnant? It was a very vague and cryptic warning, so I just wonder what she meant by that.

-Locke's note. I'm trying to remember if Sawyer was reading his note when the plane hit turbulence on 815. Either way, I like the parallel. I also thought it was interesting that Jack only had a piece of the letter when he got back to the island. More on that later.

-Sorry, let's talk pre-island stuff first. So DHARMA had a station in Los Angeles called the Lamp Post. Which makes me wonder, what happened to it when the DHARMA people were killed off on the island? When did Eloise Hawking get there? I'm very curious to know more about the history of that station. But, what we do know is that it helps find when the island will be in a certain point, and for how long. Because the island is constantly physically moving, which shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who reads The Best LOST Blog out there. So thanks to the large chalk pendulum and some funky math, they can all go back.

-Well, not Desmond, who is obviously none too happy to see Ms. Hawking again, nor is he thrilled at the idea of going back to the island. But as is usually the case with Desmond, I doubt it's the last we've seen of him.

-So the plan for The Six to return to the island is an interesting one. They had to recreate the original situation as much as possible to increase the chance of it working. But they didn't really go any further into it than that. But it kind of set my mind racing regarding how you "find" the island. First, the original crash of 815 was different than this. That crash was caused by Desmond not pushing the button, which led to some electromagnetic issues which crashed the plane. This time around, it wasn't even so much that they crashed as...transported to the island. Jack, Kate, it seemed more like they had been sleeping than anything. Plus, there was the bright light on the plane, and no one remembers actually crashing. So this was a different method. I was trying to remember if there was a light on the helicopter right before Desmond started freaking out last season, perhaps that signifies passage into the island. I'll stop rambling on about what that all meant, but I thought it was all very curious.

-I loved the scene of Jack at the bar, I was just waiting for that blond to strike up a conversation and discover they were on the same flight together. I don't know how much I cared for the scene with his grandfather. I think it kind of threw me off because it was this idea that Jack has a normal life now that he's been off the island for three years, and that involves taking care of your crazy old grandfather, but it just seemed very...random.

-Ah, evil Kate, how I have missed thee. I completely agree with Julius that Kate trying to play Suzy Homemaker and raising a child and all that was all very out of place, and not something you would expect from Kate. Kate, at her core, is not a good person, despite what she would like you to believe. She's selfish, dangerous, and is incapable of just "settling down" and living a normal life. So the fact that she just dumped Aaron, and doesn't want to talk about it with Jack, EVER, sounds much more like the Kate I've come to expect.

That being said, wtf? She's beyond upset that someone wants to take Aaron away (Although I wonder how much of that is because of Aaron and how much of that is her not wanting to get caught), and is appalled at the idea of going back to the island, and yet within 24 hours, she dumps the kid, won't talk about it, and is now ready and willing to go back to the island. So clearly someone said something or did something to her. And it had to be pretty impressive, because Kate is very stubborn and irrational. Something she said really stuck with me. When Jack told her that the shoes he had belonged to his father, she said "Why hold onto something that makes you sad?" Couldn't help but wonder if this was in reference to Aaron at all. I look forward to a flashback on this.

-Fun theory I've heard mentioned by a couple people and I think it pretty awesome: Kate's sudden love-making session with Jack has something to do with her wanting to get pregnant. I don't know if this is so she can parallel Claire on the flight, or if there's some other ulterior motive, but it would make sense why she would do that, and then act all weird around him the rest of the time (Aside from the fact she's about as emotionally unstable as they come).

-Speaking of flashbacks I'm looking forward to, I really, really want to know how Hurley and Sayid ended up on the flight. Hurley got on the flight, seemed totally okay with it (Although I question the idea that 73 tickets are available for purchase the day before a flight), but clearly didn't know Ben was also going to be on the flight. So how did he get there? And Sayid managed to get himself arrested, yet still was able to get on the flight in handcuffs. When Kate was on the plane, she was being extradited back to the US. So what's Sayid's excuse? Being extradited to Guam? I actually wonder if perhaps he was arrested for a crime he committed overseas and was being extradited there (Asia, Australia, etc.) and they had to stopover in Guam. If that's the case, I'd be willing to bet Ben turned him in. But who knows. He also seemed a little surprised to see Ben.

-Speaking of Ben, what the hell happened to him? As we've seen in the past, Ben can be very effective in a physical confrontation, and the only time we've really seen him get his ass kicked was when he was basically defenseless in the hatch, and when Jack beat the crap out of him after he though Jin, Sayid and Bernard were dead. There has been speculation that he killed Penny, and his injuries were from Desmond. I'm not sold on that idea yet. I know Ben told Widmore that he was going to get revenge for Widmore having Alex killed, but I'm just not sure killing Penny makes sense right now. But I'm sure we'll find out what happened soon enough.

-Looks like we have a new regular on the show. Currently without a name, he gave Jack his condolences for Locke's death at the airport, then was sitting across from Hurley on the plane. I am guessing we will see more of him.

-Well, I guess we know where that Ajira Airways water bottle came from, eh? Although I'm still a little wary of the timing of it all, since that water bottle looked to be in the future, while it looks like The Six have appeared in (What I'm assuming is) the past with the other survivors. So maybe the water bottle is related to something else. Like the still mysterious people on the other boat with guns.

-As I said, Jack, Kate and Hurley were all shown back on the island. But they didn't seem to crash, they were just sort of...there. It makes me wonder what happened to the plane, who made it off the plane and who didn't, etc.

-Frank cleans up nicely, don't you think? Loved his line "We're not going to Guam, are we?" Line of the show, easy.

-Let's talk briefly about the timing of the show. Here's what we know:

*At the beginning of the season, we saw The Six three years in the future, that has been their focal time period so far. The survivors we saw pick up right where Season 4 left off (I mean in real time according to them, since obviously they have been flashing all through time on the island).
*When Ben left the island he moved ten months into the future and appeared in the desert.
*When Locke left the island, he moved to an indeterminable time and place.
*The Six (Well, The Five) returned to the island (as was mentioned) three years after leaving it, arriving in a currently unknown year, although it's most likely in the past some time.

Now, all that being considered, someone mentioned to me that it seemed to take Jin a second to recognize everyone. I believe the reason for that is it's three years later for the survivors. Remember, all the time flash that we saw occurred directly after The Six left the island. But The Six didn't return for another three years, so I believe that three years have also passed for the survivors since Locke left. It might not be exactly three years, since time on the island and time everywhere else doesn't seem to match up quite right, but I do think that Locke left, and they never heard from him or anyone again until just then when Jin saw Jack, Kate and Hurley. So I think that's why it took him a second to realize what the hell was going on.

The idea that we've skipped over three years on the island, and a pivotal few moments from The Six leads me to believe we have plenty of ammunition for some flashbacks.

-Jin's working for DHARMA now. That fits with the idea of Faraday working for Dharma in the early 80s, as we saw at the beginning of the season. It would also put us at a time when Charlotte was a child on the island, allowing Faraday to go all Twelve Monkeys on us and try to warn someone in the past of a dire situation in the future, only it's futile.

See, I told you there was a lot to talk about.

Next week looks ridiculously awesome, as we get to see the resurrection of John Locke (I can't believe they aren't even keeping it a secret anymore!), and I assume we will pick up from him leaving the island, and follow him through his death, to his arrival back on the island. Which means we'll have to wait an extra week to see what happens to The Five now that they're back on the island, but that's nothing new with LOST.

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Random - My new mp3 store]]>AmazonMP3. I've been a pretty faithful iTunes store user for a while now. Yes, despite their annoying DRM, I bought all my music from them, mostly because if I wanted to it's not terribly difficult to get rid of the DRM, and it's not like the DRM will ever prevent me from actually listening to the songs (Unless some how iTunes as a program completely ceases to exist one day). And it's all a moot point now anyways since Apple finally got rid of its DRM.

But, enough of that. AmazonMP3. I've known about Amazon's efforts into the digital music world for a while now, but for me, a loyal iTunes user, the convenience of using the iTunes store to purchase music outweighed the negative DRM aspect of the purchase, considering the $0.99 pricing scheme was pretty much the same on iTunes and Amazon. Plus, with Amazon I would have to manually add the music once I downloaded it, which is just a chore.

Not anymore.

Amazon has made their mp3 buying experience about a million times easier. With their mp3 Downloader software, you can simply click on the music you want to buy, and the music is downloaded into your music folder, and automatically added to your iTunes! (Or Windows Media Player if that's your program du jour) But that's not all. If you keep an eye out, they have some pretty sweet deals available from time to time. Now this is something that iTunes pretty much never does. Aside from their free song of the week, song prices are pretty much set. $0.99 for a song, $9.99 (or so) for an album. You might encounter some variation in album pricing, but stuff is never "on sale" or anything like that. But on Amazon, thanks in part to the helpful Amazonmp3 Twitter feed, you can take advantage of daily mp3 deals that they are having on their site. I've been able to pick up a bunch of U2 singles, some holiday songs, some great old Motown songs, and just picked up No Doubt's Singles Collection (That is also available on Rock Band and is awesome, by the way). And I think I paid about $6 total for all of that. For about 70 songs. You certainly aren't going to find anything like that on iTunes.

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Random - Go F Yourself...I mean that in a good way]]>

TOM IS OUT UNTIL TUESDAY

WILL FU THEN

Hmm, I think someone needs to work on their abbreviation skills. I know "follow up" wasn't the first thing I thought when I saw that.

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Entertainment - LOST 5.5 Thoughts]]>I hope wherever Charlotte is now she has lots of Geronimo Jackson to listen to. That is a screenshot from Season 2, when Charlie and Hurley were in the hatch discussing their women troubles. When she mentioned the band I knew they had been discussed before, so I browsed through my DVDs and hunted down the scene.

We had a much faster paced episode last night, no doubt due to the fact that the time flashes were starting to make everyone's brain melt, so our island survivors were in a bit of a hurry. Meanwhile in the "real" world, Sun brought a gun into the equation, which is usually an effective way to get everyone to move a little more quickly. So, what all did we learn last night?

-Sayid's kind of annoying me at the moment. He's been working for Ben for the better part of two years (During last night's Pop Up LOST episode beforehand, they mentioned that Ben was sent about ten months into the future after turning the wheel, and shortly thereafter he found Sayid, who then started working for him as an assassin, which he continued to do up until recently at least, which is about two years), but apparently now he doesn't trust Ben anymore (assuming he ever did), but he also is going out of his way to try and protect Hurley, but he doesn't want to go back to the island. It just seems like he's without a purpose at the moment, and Sayid is a much more effective character when he's got some kind of motivation. Hopefully he finds some soon.

-One of the things Ben does really well is keep a very even keel almost all of the time. No matter how things are going, he has a very calm demeanor. What that means, is when he actually gets mad about something (Or at least acts like he's mad), it's very effective in shutting people up.

-Speaking of Ben, how twisted and wrapped up in himself is this guy? Maybe it's just me, but is there ever a time where you take anything he says at face value? Even when he's facing death and has a gun pointed at him, I have no expectations of him whatsoever to tell the truth. It's like he saves the truth only for when he really needs it. And you never really know what he actually knows. Take Jin, for example. Did Locke actually give him Jin's ring, or did Ben just find it on him after Locke died? If Locke did give it to him, does Ben know that Jin is actually alive, despite him wanting Sun to think he's dead? I can guarantee you if he knew Jin didn't want Sun to come back, there's no way he's telling Sun that.

-One more note on Ben, again because of how he always acts, and because of how smart he is, most of what goes on around him is part of the plan, or at least he can pretend it is. So I love his reaction when something genuinely surprises him. He definitely had no clue what Desmond was doing in L.A., and was certainly not expecting to see him again, and his reaction was priceless. And no, this man still hasn't won an Emmy yet for this show.

-Not that this is news to anyone, but we now know that Ms. Eloise Hawking is Daniel Faraday's mother, was the woman in Desmond's deja vu, is working with Ben to find the island, etc. I'd also say there is now a 95% chance she was the woman on the island during the time flash in the 50s with the hydrogen bomb. I did enjoy Desmond's "wtf" face when he recognized who she was.

-Where does the Oceanic Six stand now in getting back to the island? Jack: He's in, he's been in for a while. Sayid: He's out at the moment, but as I said, he has no purpose, so I can't see any good reason why he wouldn't go back. Kate: She's out at the moment, but for no other reason than because she's completely irrational (kind of like Jack, actually). She's mostly pissed off at the moment because Jack tried to manipulate her and lie to her (Ironic that she would get mad about something like that), but ultimately she's not a strong enough person to go against the group. Hurley: In jail at the moment, but that's a minor setback. If there's anyone in this group that gives into peer pressure, it's Hurley. Plus, he actually wants to go back to the island, he just doesn't want to go with Ben. Sun: She's in. Being able to see Jin again made that a pretty easy decision. Aaron: I'm sure he'll bitch about how much he hates to travel, doesn't like tropical locations, etc., but ultimately he's three years old, so you can probably just tell him there's a bunch of candy on the island and he'll be onboard.

-Back on the island, we get a little bit more insight into the life of Danielle Rousseau. When we first meet her on the show, she is a worn out, paranoid person who has had everyone that was originally a part of her team taken or killed, and so we got to see how she got that way. First, we had the smoke monster do what he does best, and that's kill people and throw them up into the trees. Then, we got to see the smoke monster drag someone down one of his holes, then apparently use that person as bait to get the others to go down to try and help him. But here's the interesting part. Rousseau told Sayid that the other members of her team got "sick", but we never really knew what that meant. Well, it would seem that the smoke monster did something to her team members, because she killed two of them, and ultimately killed the third as well, her boyfriend/husband/lover no less, after he tried to kill her. I don't know that we've seen the smoke monster do that before, brainwashing, or somehow infecting people to behave differently.

-One complaint I had here. The time flashes, I thought they were a neat way to see the history of the island. I thought the show had done a nice job with them. However, the second flash during the Rousseau scenes felt...forced. It was the first time where I felt like it was simply being used as a plot device. Jin was there, Jin saw the whole team besides Rousseau disappear, convenient time flash forward a couple weeks so we can see that Rousseau was right about her team getting sick, then once we see that, convenient time flash again out of there. It really rubbed me the wrong way. And it's not that I didn't feel like we should have seen that scene, because I do think it was important, I just didn't like the way we got there.

-Anyone else feel bad for Jin for a second there when Sawyer pulled a gun on him? Poor guy can't catch a break, everyone wants to shoot him.

-Those time flashes certainly started getting a lot more painful, didn't they? I wonder if we were supposed to look at that from the perspective of the survivors, or if they were actually getting more intense from the instability of the wheel.

-Nice knowing you Charlotte. I imagine we'll see here again, albeit at a much younger age. In all honesty, the writing has been on the wall for her for a while now, so her death is not terribly unexpected. That being said, she went out with a bang, revealing a few interesting things about herself and the island.

-First off, she speaks Korean. Not only does she speak Korean, Jin knew she spoke Korean. I'd love to go back and rewatch Season 4 and see if there's some point in time where he or Sun are clued into the fact that she understood them, because otherwise how would he know?

-She grew up on the island. She didn't say she was born there (She probably wasn't, considering women can't give birth to babies on the island), but she did grow up there, and left with her mom when she was still a child. She was vague about who her father was, but implied that he too was on the island, perhaps also working for DHARMA. That was why in her flashback we saw her working on the skeleton of the DHARMA polar bear, she's been trying to get back to the island.

-Daniel told her, when she was a child, to leave and never come back to the island. It was a memory she had but had forgotten, but because of the time shifts her brain was pulling memories from all over her life, which is how she remembered Daniel. We saw Daniel working for DHARMA during the season premiere, so clearly we're still waiting to see him end up in the past. I do think it's interesting that he told her to stay away from the island, even though he should know that he can't go back and change what's already happened.

-She told Jin that Sun should stay away. Why? Foreshadowing for the future of our survivors?

-I don't think Charlotte is the baby with Dr. Chang in the season premiere. First off, based on screen shots it's much more likely that it's a boy. Second, it doesn't work up with the timing for Faraday to be there and Charlotte to be a baby. I suppose it's possible that he's there for a while and tells her later when she's older, but I don't think that's likely. Miles is still a good possibility, since he had to have been on the island before.

-You'd think someone who was paralyzed and in a wheel chair but can now walk again would appreciate his legs a little more than John Locke does. The man is getting shot, stabbed, breaking his legs, whatever. Show some respect, already.

-Christian Shepard is such a cool character. I don't know what it is about him, but I'm always fascinated when he's around. I loved his line about Locke needing to move the island, not Ben.

-Speaking of Ben, do you think he knew that Locke was supposed to move the island, and that he went ahead and did it on purpose? Ben had been supplanted as leader of the Others by Locke, and didn't seem to thrilled about it, given he tried to kill Locke, so is it far-fetched to think that he used the wheel as a way to get off the island? Kind of makes you wonder how Locke actually died. Did Ben finally end up killing him? Is he attempting some kind of a coup to lead the Others once again? Or is that a futile attempt, since ultimately it's all about what Jacob wants?

-Real quick thoughts on the island...it would appear that Locke has it back on track, so now the question is...when are they? Assuming the island has stopped "skipping", when did it pick back up? I believe that they have arrived at the time we saw during Dr. Chang's flashback. I believe that's how Faraday came into employment with DHARMA, and it will be interesting to see what happens with everyone else, not to mention what that means for the Six trying to find the island, as well as how the survivors already on the island can get...back to the future.

-Oh, and because I keep forgetting to mention it, I just wanted to say how great the chemistry between Juliet and Sawyer is. Sawyer might be the best character on the show, the range of emotions he goes through is massive, and those scenes where we get to see the sensitive side of him are absolutely priceless. And Juliet is great at getting to that side of him, which provides for some genuinely great dialogue.

Hope I didn't forget anything too important to talk about, there was quite a bit going on this week. Next week looks to be crazy too, as we're going to learn a bit about how the island operates, which is always valuable information.

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Site Update - Look, a website!]]>Well, the reason I noticed is because we just switched hosting companies this past week. Our old company, Lunarpages, has become increasingly more and more frustrating from a customer service standpoint, as has been documented on occasion by me on here. We've been actively seeking other options, and thanks to my friends over at KillerFrogs.com, they recommended what I hope to be a very satisfactory alternative. The hosting plan we signed up for fulfills the requirements that we have due to The Oratory's message board, and the price of the plan is significantly cheaper than what we were paying before. So I'm very excited about this new opportunity.

But anyways, I noticed that the XML file that contains my RSS feed wasn't parsing correctly. Basically, my XML file has PHP code in it (Sorry for getting technical), and the server wasn't reading the PHP code, treating the file as XML-only. Well, after doing some research and getting some help from "The Internet", I figured out what the problem was, and had it back up and running.

So those of you who are subscribed to my feed, I have some LOST recaps up for this season, so check those out if you haven't seen them yet.

In other news, I moved secondcitysaint.com over to our new server on Monday, and after making some tweaks to correct some issues with posting comments, making new posts, etc., I believe we are completely back up and running.

I've added a link to my Twitter feed to the left, I still need to try and get a list of my recent feeds up on my site. Hopefully I can focus on that now that the other more pressing tasks are taken care of. Nice to have things back to normal.

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Entertainment - LOST 5.4 Thoughts]]>Ajira Airways. Some interesting tidbits on there, although I don't know how much of an impact the airline company will be playing during the rest of the show, it's still another site to add to the list of many other LOST-related sites that have popped up over the years. For what it's worth, Ajira is Hindi for "island".

Last night's episode was certainly on a slower pace than what we've seen so far this season (Which is not unexpected, I can't imagine the show being able to throw that much information into an episode every single week), but we were still privy to some new information, and got hit with a wild last fifteen minutes or so as we were reunited with some old characters.

-Let's get into off the island stuff first. Sun now has a gun that someone delivered to her (Charles Widmore, I would assume). And a box of chocolates. I'm sure there's a metaphor for that out there that I'm just not remembering. It's a pretty safe bet based on what we've seen that the gun is meant for a confrontation with Ben. As has been alluded to in previous flash-forwards/episodes, Sun seems to hold Ben responsible for the death of her husband (As she should, since it really was his fault), which is the motivation behind her apparent alliance with Charles Widmore. I'm going to assume Ben knows this, just because it seems like the kind of thing a well-informed person like Ben would know.

-Jack:"Who was that?" Ben:"My lawyer". Nice.

-So what was Claire's mother doing there in LA? And why was Ben's lawyer going to talk to her? She has to have been there as more than just a red herring for Kate to discover, right? And why was it pouring rain there? It's Los Angeles. Sunny, 80 degrees every day, isn't that the stereotype for LA weather? I might buy it being cloudy, or maybe even a light drizzle, but a full on downpour? C'mon.

-We end the episode with five of the six together, with Hurley seemingly soon to follow (My wife made the comment that he looked like an Oompa Loompa in his clearly too small orange jumpsuit, I like the comparison, but I actually thought he looked more like an orange version of Violet in Willy Wonka after she filled up with blueberry juice). Some are ready to go back to the island, some are not. However we can always count on Ben to manipulate everyone to do what he wants when it's all said and done.

-Back on the island, we see that Charlotte's not dead. Yet. I also retract my previous off-the-wall theory regarding any kind of family-type relationship she might have with Faraday, as I re-watched last week's episode and Daniel did in fact say he was "in love" with her, not that he "loved" her.

-Miles has been on the island before, which should lead to an interesting story later on down the road. Daniel's theory is that the temporal sickness Charlotte had, and that Miles and Juliet are developing is related to how much exposure they have had to the island. So that probably means they should try and hurry up and figure out how to stop shifting through time.

-Quick slightly off-topic tangent: Their temporal sickness reminds me a little of Michael Crichton's book Timeline (Yes, the crappy Paul Walker movie, if that helps you). The book dealt with time travel, and basically what happened is when you went back in time, you suffered minor "transcription errors", or defects to your body. They were so minor that they didn't affect you at all, nor could you really know they're there. However, after so many trips back, they add up, and can cause some damage. So after a certain point, you were no longer allowed to travel back in time. LOST seems to follow a similar idea when it comes to people getting sick. End tangent.

-What happened to the rest of the survivors? They couldn't have all fit on that boat, could they? And even if they did, where would they go? Eh, nevermind, I don't really care that much.

-I love being able to see the island at different points in time. It's just so cool to be able to see so many different events that have happened on the island, it's literally like pieces of a puzzle being revealed.

-Any thoughts on who those people were in the other boat shooting at the survivors? Because I don't have a damn clue.

-Jin's alive!!!! Such a great reveal. I had always held out hope that he didn't die, but not much. And I didn't even realize it was him until they turned him over. So glad he's still alive!

-Still, gotta feel bad for the guy. Once again, he is on a ship that gets blown up, he's separated from everyone else, floating alone out at sea, only to be discovered by a group of people who speaks a different language than him. I think the guy just needs to stay on the island.

-Actually, the real reason I feel bad for him is because he has no clue that he's moving through time, although he certainly knows who Danielle Rousseau is, so you could see the gears in his head turning when she told him her name. Even still, he doesn't know what's going on. At least he can get by with his English, and Rousseau's crew seems slightly more friendly than the tail section was.

-Based on next week's preview, Ben knows Jin is alive. How the hell does he know this? No one else knows he's alive except for the group of French sailors from 1988. The guy knows everything!

I think that's all I've got. Shorter write up this week, but that's because there wasn't as much going on. Still, we found out Jin was still alive, which is completely awesome.

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Personal - Neverending Change...]]>Basically, my department is in the process of transforming itself into a little more encompassing group than what it is now. The last few years has seen my company centralize a lot of the processes we have in place, and while my department is already centralized to a certain extent, we're being centralized even further, which means our size is going to be at least doubling over the next couple months.

On one hand, it's always nice to be in a department that's in the process of expanding, as opposed to a department that is busy contracting (As was the case with my now non-existent previous position). On the other hand, with this expansion comes a lot of change, regarding who is working with who. There aren't a lot of changes to my current team, since we're all already here and pretty much doing what everyone else joining the team is going to be doing. However, for whatever reason I get to end up being one of those changes, as I am getting moved to another team within the department. Basically, our current team handles business in the Great Lakes/Midwest part of the country, and most of the business that is being integrated into our group is from the West and South. So I am now having to switch over to that team, and work with whatever new people end up joining that group.

My dissatisfaction for this change is purely selfish, I'm getting moved away from all my friends and into a group of complete strangers. I'm also a little tired of constantly having to change to new situations. In the three and a half years I've been here, I've had 4 different jobs in three different departments, and have moved around the office five times (It will be six in a few weeks). It would be nice to just be able to stay in one spot for a little while.

Anyways, at the end of the day it's ultimately not that big of a deal, just a little frustrated by the whole situation.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=274
Random - Update: Political Rant]]>rant earlier this week on the Senate's decision to try and push the digital TV transition back to June, I would like to commend the House of Representatives for actually rejecting the proposed bill, arguing it would be too confusing and expensive to go through with the delay.

Obviously they couldn't say that they felt anyone too stupid to not already be prepared deserves not having any TV to watch, but I'm sure most thought that anyways. Normally I hate most of what goes on in Congress, nice of them to make the right decision once in a while.

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Entertainment - LOST 5.3 Thoughts]]>So, what did we learn this week?

-Desmond didn't waste any time in knocking Penny up, did he? Considering how old their kid looked, and if we're supposed to be somewhere around three years post-rescue, then they must have gotten busy in a hurry. I like them naming the kid Charlie, that's a nice touch. One of my friends threw out the idea that Desmond & Penny could be the "Adam & Eve" skeletons in the caves on the island, and that "Charlie" is actually Charles Widmore. A little too paradoxical for me.

-So Penny didn't want to go back to England because her father is there. Desmond says he'll be careful. So what does he do? Why, barge right into his office, of course! Very interesting turn of events here. Faraday screwed up his research at Oxford, and severely injured someone he worked with/loved(?), and that person is now mentally and spatially unstable, seemingly drifting through time. But that's not all. Who is now taking care of this woman? Charles Widmore. Who was funding Faraday's research? Charles Widmore. Who knows where Faraday's mother can be found? Charles Widmore. Now, it's not like we didn't know that Widmore already knew Faraday, he was recruited to go on the freighter after all. But it seems like they have quite a history together. I have some theories about how much history they might have when I discuss the island later.

-So, Faraday's mother is in Los Angeles, which is conveniently enough where the mysterious Mrs. Hawking is as well. Unless the writers are trying to throw us a curve ball (Which wouldn't surprise me), I'm going to assume that the two women are the same person. Which should be fun for Desmond when he realizes that he's met her before.

-Alright, let's talk about the island. First off, we get some perspective on when our survivors currently are. Richard tells John that they are in 1954. We also find out that a team of US soldiers arrived on the island 18 months ago. We don't know who sent them, or for what purpose. However, they brought with them a little present. A hydrogen bomb. And not just any hydrogen bomb. See, the first hydrogen bomb testing done by the US was done in 1952, in the "IvyMike" test. Later, in 1954, the US first tested what was called a dry fuel thermonuclear hydrogen bomb, called "Castle Bravo". However, the US had created a second, smaller bomb as a backup in the event that the first one didn't work. The code name for this test was "Castle Yankee", and the code name of the bomb itself? Why, Jughead of course. Just to put things into perspective, Castle Bravo produced a bomb that was 1,200 times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped in Japan during WWII. So that's fun.

-So we've got a bomb that's apparently leaking, or damaged in some way, Daniel's big solution is to bury it in concrete or lead. One would assume (or hope) that this was done at some point in time, although keeping an active hydrogen bomb on the island probably isn't a great idea. The existence of the bomb leads to a couple of questions, though: Does Widmore's desire to get back to the island have anything to do with the bomb, and could Rousseau's crew's deaths have anything to do with radiation exposure from the bomb?

-Speaking of Widmore, hey, looks who's on the island in 1954, as "an Other". Why, it's Charles Widmore! The guy that Locke almost shot, the guy that Sawyer tried to shoot. Of course, knowing what we know now, obviously they wouldn't have been able to kill him, since that's against the rules. Looking forward, now it's not so much a case of Widmore trying to find the island as it is a case of Widmore trying to get back to the island. Changes your perspective on things just a little bit. And it also makes you wonder; was Widmore born on the island? Why did he leave? What has happened since then to put him on opposing sides with Benjamin Linus and all of the Others, considering he was once part of them?

-Since the best part of LOST is being able to speculate, let's speculate about our female friend with the rifle that Faraday finds so...familiar. Could it be that he finds her so familiar because that is...his mother? *Cue dramatic soap opera music* Think about it. Given how old Widmore is at the time, whoever that woman is, she's 50 years older in the present, which would conceivably put her around Mrs. Hawking's age. And Mrs. Hawking clearly knows about the island, considering she's working with Ben. So why not? Why else would Daniel think she looked so familiar?

-But wait, let's take things one step further. Let's assume that the woman on the island is in fact a young Mrs. Hawking. We know that she and Charles Widmore are on the island at the same time. We know that she and Charles Widmore will leave the island at some point in time. Both will spend some amount of time living in the United Kingdom. Charles Widmore funds Daniel Faraday's research on space-time at Oxford, where his mother also works. Dare we suggest that Charles Widmore is Daniel's...father? *Cue uber-dramatic soap opera music* Obviously I don't have much to go on with this theory at the moment, but it's something to keep in mind.

-Richard Alpert is alive and well in the 1950s. This shouldn't really be a surprise to anyone, considering he visited John Locke when he was a child. Although here's the messed up part: He visited Locke when he was a kid, because Locke told him to two years before he was born. Let that one sink in.

-A few things we learned about the Others: Richard is always there, Juliet remarked that he's very old; they all speak Latin; Richard reports to Jacob, even in 1954. I thought their uniforms were interesting...did they just take those from the dead soldiers? Uniforms with name patches reminds me a lot of Dharma, not something the Others would normally wear.

-It's not looking good for Charlotte. I wonder what's wrong with her. She's displaying signs of the temporal displacement sickness Desmond had when they left the island, only she didn't leave the island, and she isn't phasing through time periods like Desmond was. Daniel seems concerned, but he wasn't concerned enough to do anything to try and prevent it, or at least he didn't know of anything he could do to prevent it.

-Miles and Sawyer need more interaction. I don't care in what capacity, just make it happen.

-Someone brought up a great point to me regarding the compass. Richard gave John the compass to use the next time he sees Richard, since Richard won't know who he is. So John gives him the compass in 1954. Which Richard then uses later on to give to John. Which John gives to Richard in 1954. Rinse and repeat. So where did the compass actually come from? Has it always been in this temporal loop? I think my head just exploded.

-Oh yeah, quick follow up regarding the US military that I saw mentioned...Ana Lucia commented way back in...Season 2 or so, that she came across a knife on the island, and it was a US Military-grade knife. So now we know where that came from.

Alright, I think that's everything I can remember for the moment. Next week we should get some more progression in the Oceanic Six's attempt to get back to the island, and hopefully we'll discover when our survivor friends are now.

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Rant - Poor Customer Service]]>My wife and I have been Cingular/AT&T subscribers for probably 4 years now. For the most part I'm pretty happy with them, and I think their rollover minutes that they offer are an underrated feature to their cell phone plans.

Anyways, when we signed up on their family plan, they were offering 450 anytime minutes, 5000 nights & weekends (essentially unlimited as far as we're concerned), and free mobile-to-mobile minutes. Pretty standard stuff. Pricing was pretty standard too, $39.99 for the plan, $19.99 for any additional line. So sans taxes, fees, and any other features you're basically looking at $60 a month straight up for the two of us to have our phones. No problem.

Well, at some point in time AT&T does away with the plan that we are on, so now their lowest family plan offers 550 anytime minutes, unlimited nights & weekends, and free mobile-to-mobile. There pricing also changes slightly, so now it's $49.99 for the plan and $9.99 for each additional line (It still works out to $60 for two people).

Here's my problem: AT&T never notified us of this new plan, never offered to switch us over to this new plan, and seemed perfectly content to screw us out of 100 minutes every month. It may seem like I'm nitpicking, but we tend to hover right around that 450 minute mark pretty frequently. Some months we are under, and can accumulate some rollover minutes, but other months we are over, sometimes as much as 120 minutes over. So there are times where we go over our allotted minutes, and don't have enough rollover minutes, and we get hit with charges for the extra minutes, which add up pretty quickly. But if we had an extra 100 minutes a month? We'd be fine. We would have plenty of rollover minutes stored up on the off chance we actually went over 550 minutes a month (Just as a small sample size, Melissa's minute usage tends to range from 350-450 minutes a month, while mine goes anywhere from 30-190 over the past 7 months or so).

Now, I'm not suggesting we shouldn't have to pay for going over, I fully understand that we have 450 minutes to use and it's our responsibility to make sure we don't go over. All I'm saying is that a company that really stressed good customer service might think about notifying their customers when they are in an old plan that is costing them 100 free minutes a month, all because they signed up earlier and are older customers. I know cell phone companies are all about new customers, with their deals on new phones, new customer discounts, etc., but sometimes you should try and pay more attention to the needs of your current customers as well.

And just as an update, once I discovered this new plan, I switched us over immediately, so starting with our next billing cycle we will have 550 minutes to deal with, which should make our monthly bill look much nicer.

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Rant - Politics]]>First thing is the transition to digital television that is currently in progress in the US. This is something that has been publicly advertised as happening for a while now, and the February deadline has been known for at least a year. So what happened last week? A senator from West Virginia proposed postponing the transition to June, because of a shortage of converter box coupons, and because of the large number of people who were not prepared for the transition.

The US Government has completely screwed up on this one. They're spending millions and millions of dollars on these $40 coupons for everyone who needs one to use on a digital converter box for their antennas. And yet, despite spending all that money, there's a shortage, and they can't get these coupons out to everyone who needs them? Really? Talk about incompetence. And the idea that we should even care about anyone who isn't prepared for the conversion is a joke to me. While I can't speak for cities elsewhere, the local stations in Chicago have been bringing up the transition constantly, running tests for people, showing reminders, etc. If you need a converter box and don't have one, I can't think of many reasons why aside from laziness. Applying for the $40 coupon is a piece of cake, and any electronics store will be able to help you find the appropriate converter box (I think the coupon's website even has a list of merchants/models that are available). So if people still are unprepared, then screw them. I guarantee you if they really care that much then when their TV stops working they'll get off their ass and go get a converter box.

Dragging this deadline out to June is completely irresponsible, and has to be costly to television companies that will now have to continue broadcasting in analog, and continue advertising the new transition date. I can't believe this is being delayed due to a seemingly simple process.

The other thing I wanted to complain about is in local news; Chicago Mayor Richard Daley is expected to name current CTA President Ron Huberman CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, after the old CPS CEO joined President Obama's administration in Washington.

This is terrible for a couple of reasons. First off, Huberman has absolutely no experience in education. None. Aside from the fact that he once went to school as a child, I suppose. And now he's going to be running the Chicago Public School system. Yeah, that sounds like a great idea. Don't get me wrong, I believe in Huberman's managerial abilities, but I also think someone who has never worked in education before will struggle to find their way leading a public school system.

Second, this is probably going to end up screwing the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) big time. The CTA's last president before Huberman was absolutely terrible, and Huberman in his short time in the role has done a wonderful job in transforming the organization, making great strides in maintenance improvement, improving employee accountability, bettering the managerial culture, etc. Now I don't know who is taking over at the CTA, and it could certainly be someone who is very capable and will continue in Ron's footsteps. However, that may not happen, and we may end up with another poor president, in which case the CTA is going to go back to its previous deteriorated state, which, for a city that is so dependent on public transportation, is a very bad thing. Mayor Daley has his work cut out for him, and he needs to be very careful with his next selection for CTA President.

Season 5 of LOST kicked off last night, and the show definitely had a different feel to it. I think that was primarily due to the lack of traditional flashbacks/flashforwards in the sense that we know them; mostly because the show has sort of become a big flashback/flashforward itself. As the island spirals through time, we find ourselves watching the survivors in different time periods, switching between groups.

First we have the Oceanic 6, who look to primarily residing in a time period three years from when they originally left the island, although it looks like we will be seeing the occasional flashback to somewhere between that time period to catch us up on important happenings.

Then we have everyone else still on the island. As for their whereabouts, well, I think for now it's safe to say that they're on the island, and leave it at that. At the moment, they...or the island, is moving through time with no discernible pattern or frequency. Past, present, ...future? Who knows at this point in time. Well, maybe at least one person knows, but we'll discuss her a little later.

We've got the Six (Well, some of them) officially trying to get back to the island, led by Mr. Linus, of course; and on the other side of things, we have Locke and Co. trying to make sense of what the hell is happening on the island and hopefully restore everything to some kind of order. What else did we learn?

-Jack and Ben on the same side...that should be fun. Ben says that he hadn't seen Locke since they were on the island together, which may or may not be true. Jack, on the other hand, had a conversation with Locke, off the island, before he died, which only helped lead Jack to his miserable state of being, apparently. Locke actually managed to get through to Jack, and really did a number on him, to make him want to go back to the island.

-Kate may not need as much convincing to get back to the island as we first suspected, considering she now has an unknown entity trying to disprove her claim that she's the baby mama. She's on the run now, and I would imagine it would be pretty difficult for her to manage to go and hide and start over, as we all know she likes to do, since she's a celebrity these days. However, she hates Ben, and probably won't be as quick to align with him as Jack was, so that may present a problem.

-What do we know about the paternity lawyers? Were they sent by Maury Povich for one of his upcoming shows? Or are their intentions more sinister? Sun brings up an interesting point that they are probably after Aaron, not that they want to discredit Kate with her lie. It would seem that they already suspect/know that Kate is not the mother, so perhaps they are trying to find out more about who Aaron is?

-Sayid is a hired assassin. He kills the people Ben wants him to kill. That seems like a pretty easy way to create enemies. However, when he was attacked back at his hotel room, these men were not trying to kill him. They had tranquilizer darts instead. So again we're left to wonder, who was behind that attack? Charles Widmore would probably be the early favorite in that category, but why does he need Sayid alive? And despite the fact that Sayid is working for Ben, will he be willing to go back to the island? Sayid tends to do what Sayid wants, so if Sayid doesn't want to go back to the island, he's not going back.

-Hurley did a fantastic job of screwing everything up. He escaped from the mental institution, saved Sayid's life, and was this close to agreeing to go back to the island, which is really what he's wanted to do for some time. Then at the last minute he pulls out a huge swerve, follows Sayid's advice of doing the exact opposite of what Ben wants, and turns himself into the police, who suspect him of murder. So now if Ben wants Hurley to go with them, he's going to have to get him out of jail. Fortunately for Ben, this guy's show is about to get canceled, so he might be available to help:

-Sun is...different. Trying to negotiate with Charles Widmore, coming off as just a little vindictive about Jin "dying", definitely a different side of Sun from what we're used to seeing. And aside from a convenient plot device, what "business" does she have in LA? She's a big mystery thus far, but everything about her so far is very cold. Even the hotel she's in, the penthouse suite on the top floor? I know her family has a lot of money, but you would expect someone like Sun to act a little more humble following her experience on the island.

-I don't think we'll ever know how deep Benjamin Linus' network of people goes. He has people all over the place, but who knows what they know, and what they don't. At least Locke will stay nice and crisp in the meat locker.

-Moving on to island stuff, it's long been discussed that Richard Alpert never seems to age, and now he's showing up randomly while Locke is flashing through time, giving him advice, trying to advise him while he can. Clearly he is not moving through time as the survivors are, but what does he know that we don't? How was he able to find Locke, know he had been shot, and help him? And where are the rest of the Others?

-Based on theories I had been reading about in the offseason from Mirror Matter, the popular idea was that the island was moving in time, and that it was entirely possible that it had moved back to the 70s. When the show opened up, and we got to see our TV doctor live and in the flesh, that certainly seemed to be the case, especially when Daniel Faraday showed up at the Orchid. However, as we saw during the show, the survivors have no control over what time period they are in yet, so the flashback of the Orchid being constructed is actually something that's going to happen in the future at some time, well in the survivors' future. So at some point in time, the survivors, or at the very least Faraday, will wind up back at the Orchid when it's being constructed. Just something interesting to think about.

-Desmond acting as a catalyst for Faraday's plans was great. As Faraday had written down in his book, Desmond is his Constant. The idea that he's able to transmit a message to Desmond in the past, and have it show up in Desmond's mind in the future is very intriguing. And as Faraday said, you can't change anything that's already happened, which is why Desmond didn't know of this meeting until he was on a boat with Penny. Clearly Faraday is going to become a lot more important this season.

-Anyone else worried about Charlotte? It almost seems like her mind is regressing for some reason. The nosebleeds she hadn't had since she was a child, the inability to remember her mother's maiden name, a constant headache. There's something up with that, and Faraday knows what it is. Either way, Charlotte just moved up my "Death Watch" List.

-The cool thing about being able to locate dead people? It works on animals too, so you can get food. I was hoping Miles and Sawyer would have a moment there considering the agony those boars have provided Sawyer.

-"It's a compass." "What does it do?" "It points North." Gold. I guess even Locke takes for granted the idea that sometimes things just are what they see on the island.

-Hurley trying to explain the premise of the show to his mother reminds me why I can't describe the show to people and have to resort to "You need to watch the DVDs from Season 1 on."

-So Hurley can talk to dead people, apparently. Or he's just crazy. Or both. Does that mean he'll get a little late night rendezvous from Libby later this season?

-Hey look, it's the old lady from Desmond's deja vu! I bet you forgot about her. Apparently her church/monastery/whatever has a low IT budget and she's stuck using a computer from 1982. So what's she doing down in the basement drawing asterisks every where? I'm guessing she's somehow able to calculate when and where the island is going to appear, allowing Ben to return with the Six (Hence the 70-hour deadline). But ultimately, what's her purpose? Who is she?

-Do we use Princess Bride rules when determining how dead someone is? Is Locke only 'mostly' dead, which is why Ben wouldn't answer Jack's question? Is he going to come back to life when he gets to the island? I mean, he's not much of a leader if he can't even survive for more than a few years, right?

Man, and this is just after the first episode. There was a lot more going on in this episode than I realized. And I didn't even get to talk about Frogurt and his awesome flaming arrow of death routine.

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Personal - The Great Twitter Experiment]]>So, I've decided to give it a shot, and see what I think. I can be found at mtmaloney. So far it's actually been a more positive experience than I was expecting. I still don't know how productive I am as far as keeping people updated, but I have found some neat Twitter feeds to follow. Some are just personal Twitters, some are news related, and some are just for fun.

The big selling point for me thus far is the ability to integrate Twitter into my every day apps. TwitterGadget allows me to embed Twitter inside my Gmail, which I have open at work all day. Twitteriffic allows me to access Twitter on my iPhone when I'm away from the computer. The result of this is that I actually spend very little time on twitter.com, which means so far the transition into using Twitter has been fairly seamless. Big points for Twitter there.

I do want to integrate it further, primarily by incorporating it into my blog somehow. Perhaps add a small section under my 'Contact Me' section that lists my most recent Tweets, and perhaps include my most recent Tweet or two in my RSS feed. Just something that makes it easy for people who read my blog to see what's going on in my Twitter world, without feeling obligated to pay attention to both. That's the one thing I don't want, is to have my attempt at communicating with the world spread out into too many places.

Apparently I'm not the only one interested in testing the Twitter waters, and obviously Twitter is at its best when you actually have other people to follow along. That being said, I do wish Twitter would make it a bit easier to follow people I might now. Right now, aside from blindly searching, all I can do is have it scan my address book and pull e-mail addresses it finds. Why no Facebook integration? I would imagine there would be a nice crossover between Facebook users and Twitter users, and it would be great to have Twitter search my friends on Facebook and give me some more people that I can follow.

That's all for now. As I said, I've been pleasantly surprised so far with Twitter, we'll see how things progress.

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Site Update - ...and we're back]]>]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=264
Site Update - Dealing with the stupid...]]>It's making it rather difficult to post new entries, since my posting form isn't working either, so that's fun. Anyways, hopefully I can get this figured out.

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Sports - You are the weakest link]]>At least the Blackhawks are playing well. Three points behind Detroit for first place in the Central. And Geovanny Soto won Rookie of the Year in the NL, so congrats to him, even if it was locked up back in July some time.

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Rant - The Plague]]>All. Day. Long. This has to be the third or fourth day of non-stop coughing (It's been going on for longer, but it was not as incessant as before).

It's not even the germs or anything like that, it's just the coughing, over and over, it really just drives you up a wall after a few hours. Look, I'm thrilled that you want to "tough" it out and not take time off of work, but at least take some cough drops or something. Quit being a complete nuisance to everyone sitting within 20 feet of you.

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Sports - The 2009 Chicago Cubs...]]>I had been terrified of the playoffs for pretty much the entire month of September. And it's not because I'm a Cubs fan, and fear any remote possibility of success; I was actually really excited about having a legitimately good team, probably the best Cubs team of my lifetime. But the MLB playoffs are brutal. Your entire season is decided in an opening round best-of-five series. That's a tough thing to have in the sport of baseball, where the sport is already played more in three game series than individual games. Having a five game series instead of a seven game series really changes things, and makes it a lot more unpredictable. I suppose that's not such a bad thing, unless you're a fan of the clear cut best team in the league. Then unpredictability can mean nothing but bad things for your team.

And that's why I was dreading the playoffs. Not because I didn't believe in my team, but because literally anything can (and did) happen. In the playoffs, after having Ryan Dempster pitch lights out at home all season, he can show up in game 1 and have possibly his worst game of the season. In the playoffs, you can have a fairly dependable infield commit four errors in a game, three in one inning. In the playoffs, you can have the team that has scored more runs than anyone else in the National League and had a run differential of +184 over the course of the season get outscored 20-6 in three games.

In the end, none of it matters. The first team to 3 wins moves on, the other team goes home. The whole season comes down to three victories. Kind of brutal to think about it that way.

But, I'm not here to lament on what could have been, instead I'd rather give my thoughts on what to expect from the Cubs in 2009 (When you're a Cubs fan it's never too early to start thinking about next year, right?).

I guess the good (or bad) thing about the team is that there aren't any large holes that need to be fixed. The team was good on offense, had good starting pitching, a good bullpen, good all around. But there were some issues that were maybe not talked about too much due to the team's successes during the regular season.

First, Derrek Lee really didn't have a very good year. He had 60 more ABs this year than last, and yet most of his numbers stayed the same, meaning his average dropped almost 30 points. I don't much care that he's not the same power hitter that he was before his 2006 injury (Well, I care a little), but he still needs to be able to contribute with his high average, which didn't happen. With Aramis Ramirez, his walks were way up, but so were his strikeouts. Power numbers were down, he should be putting up at least 30 HRs a season. The reason this kind of stuff wasn't criticized more is because A. The Cubs were winning, and scoring a lot of runs, and B. The Riot and DeRosa were having career years, so the more spread out offense overshadowed any individual struggles. (On a side note, Daryl Ward did not hit well as a pinch hitter, although he did draw a lot of walks. I wouldn't overlook this, because in 2007 he hit about .300 as a pinch hitter and was as clutch as they come. I think his injury in the beginning of the season affected his numbers). Also, holy crap can Derrek Lee stop hitting into a million double plays? Talk about an infuriating habit for your #3 hitter to get into.

I assume that part of the reason for Ramirez's power issues and high walk number had to do with the #5 spot in the lineup. Soto, Edmonds, DeRosa, etc., there wasn't a great guy there to protect him and let him see good pitches. So that's really the #1 thing I think that is missing from the Cubs. They need a left-hander who can fit into that #5 spot and hit for some power. Edmonds was a nice pickup, and he provided some nice moments, but I don't think he was the best solution as the season wore on. Obviously it would have been nice to see Fukudome have a better season and maybe fit into that spot, but that didn't happen.

So maybe that means moving Fukudome to center field (I know he's great defensively in right field, but he's a liability at the plate, so we need to find someone who can contribute on both ends), share time with Reed Johnson, and consider putting Micah Hoffpauir into right field. There's no reason for him to stay in Triple A, and he has the ability to play right field (He's not a great right fielder, I won't lie), and he's a power guy who hits from the left side of the plate. I don't know who is available in the rest of the major leagues as far as power lefties go, but the Cubs really need to find someone to put in the lineup. It really gives Lou a lot of flexibility when he's putting together lineups. You have a myriad of guys who can play right (Fukudome, Hoffpauir, DeRosa, Ward) depending on the situation, and Hoffpauir can also play first base. I'd love for Pie to figure out his swing and become an every day guy in center field, but who knows when (if) that's going to happen.

Pitching-wise, I'm not sure what you can do. Chicago's top three starters won 48 games, team was 3rd in the NL in ERA, led the league in strikeouts, have a very good 1-4 rotation (Possibly 1-5 if Rich Hill ever recovers), have a great setup man in the bullpen, a solid closer, maybe could use some more help in middle relief (As I assume most teams could also use), but overall it's a really good pitching staff. I'll be interested to see how Angel Guzman works into the equation next year, as well as Jeff Samardzija.

If I'm Jim Hendry/Lou Piniella, I re-sign Dempster, Wood, and Reed Johnson, I let Edmonds walk, and I have Fukudome platoon in center with Johnson, and make Micah Hoffpauir my every day right fielder. Pitching rotation stays the same, hope that Rich Hill comes back from the DL healthy and able to pitch well again in 2008 and take over the #5 spot. Or if not Hill, maybe Guzman or Samardzija. Overall, though, you can't really change the team that much, right? It's a good team that can win you a lot of ball games, there's no need to blow it up. So the whole timing thing on the 100 years didn't work out, that's fine, now there's no pressure on them until the next anniversary rolls around in 2108.

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Rant - Crappy neighbors]]>First, they said that leaving wet things on the carpet out there would leave water marks. My stuff was mostly on my rug to begin with, but even still, considering the crap people trudge around in all winter and then drag onto the carpeting, I think it can manage a wet umbrella.

Second, and this was the laughable part to me, they decided to remind us of the condo association rules about not leaving personal items in the hallway. Or, as my neighbor would like to have it, not leaving personal items that I don't like to see in the hallway. Because if they want to be a jackass about it, my floor rug, along with everyone else's, are personal items that should be removed, along with all the wreaths or whatever people have on their doors.

And of course the letter is signed "Sincerely, your neighbors", which is quite helpful, considering there are 8 units on our floor, so in reality it could be any of them, and at the very least it was someone on our side of the floor, so that's three units. But hey, why confront someone on a problem you're having when you can just be a jackass and write a letter and then sign it in virtual anonymity, knowing that we now can't do anything to refute your accusations.

So instead I have to blog about it. If any of you reading this live next to me and wrote that note, kiss my ass. And knock on my door next time.

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Random - Google goes Chrome]]>Google ChromeGoogle released the beta for its new internet browser, Chrome. Pretty basic so far, and I won't go into all the features, you can read up on their site, but so far I'm pretty impressed. I'll still use Firefox in the meantime for my Gmail, GCal, and GReader, because I can't live without the FF extensions I have for those sites, but other than that, it's Chrome all the way, baby.

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Sports - Let the games begin...]]>It was a live draft, which I've never actually done before. All my other leagues are online, given the varied location of its participants. It was pretty entertaining, although we were on a bit of a time crunch since our room was only reserved for two hours. We ended up taking a little bit longer than that, but it worked out fine. The annoying thing, though, is how long some people take. It just amazes me how long people sit there and contemplate who they're going to take in the 10th round. I mean, you don't need to spend all that time deciding whether or not Patrick Crayton is really worth it or not. As the draft progresses, it should be very clear to you what position needs you have, and should be ready to pick when it gets to you. It was the same few people every time, too. I mean, yeah, sometimes the guy right before you takes your pick and you have to re-evaluate, but other than that, just make your pick already.

Anyways, it was a fun time overall, and I'm mostly happy with my team. I think my steal of the draft was picking up Reggie Williams in the 10th round. I don't know why the guy was still around, he had over 600 yards and 10 scores last year, and I would expect more of the same with Garrard playing all season. Considering people like Jabar Gaffney and Vincent Jackson had already been picked, it seemed like a good find.

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Poker - Mookie Recap]]>Mookday, and that meant another chance to prevent this guy from taking the top spot on the overall money leaderboard and winning his bet. I will give Waffles credit, this bet has certainly made the Mookie quite entertaining as of late, and it also seems to have elevated his play as well.

I was fresh off an 8th place finish at the Mookie last week, where I flopped top pair with my AJ, decided to slow play against Waffles since he had position and a big stack, unfortunately for me he turned trips when a 4 hit, and we then got it all in with me drawing dead. Unfortunate, but I'm pretty happy with my play there. The big thing about that tourney, though, was that I decided to play very tight. I didn't try to see cheap flops early on, expand my range of starting hands in position too wide, just tried to stick to the strong hands and go from there. I find this tends to have success in blogger tournaments, because we have many fairly aggressive players to play against. Although LJ told me the other day that she thought bloggers were too tight, I feel like it's the other way around. But then again, we're on different ends of the playing spectrum, so it makes sense that we look at the blogger community differently.

Anyways, it worked pretty well for me, as I had a low seen flop percentage, but a good won at showdown percentage. I decided to try and employ that again this week, and it again worked well, although I will admit, for the first hour, I was getting a disgusting number of premium hands. AA twice in the first hour (And a third time when we were down to 2 tables) AK once, KK twice, and TT twice. In the first hour! Ridiculous. However, the unfortunate thing is that I couldn't get action on anything to save my life. I feel like normally in a blogger tournament I am constantly being 3-bet preflop, check-raised postflop, whatever. Always facing aggression. And for whatever reason this week, I didn't encounter any 3-bets, and my continuation bets after the flop encountered no resistance. Here's a brief sampling:

Good lord. The only hand I got anything resembling playback was my KK hand against Astin where I had to check the flop and the turn to even get him to bet out, and then he just folded to my raise anyways. All my raising, c-betting, general aggression, all without having to show down any of my hands, and no one even attempts to look me up the whole time? Argh. I don't even know how that happens. So an hour into the tourney, and I was fortunately up to 5700 chips thanks to all the cards I was getting, despite not showing down a single hand outside of the blinds.

However, early on in hour two I gave it all back on a hand I had a hard time with postflop.

So, if I can get results oriented for a second, I hate that play by my opponent. I am re-raising from the blinds for over a quarter of my stack, knowing I am out of position. I'm not 3-betting light here, although there is the possibility of a squeeze play, so I'm not necessarily uber strong. Still, it's safe to assume I have a strong hand. Second, my raise means my opponent has to call off literally half of his stack to see the flop. And he's going to do that with 66? I mean, aside from hoping to hit a set, I can't see what that accomplishes at all. I really hate that call.

But anyways, I really get into an awkward position here post flop. My opponent only has 1300 left, and there is already a pot of over 3000, and the flop was completely awful for me, two overs, three flush cards (of which I have none), and now I'm first to act. Ultimately I decided to use the ace as a scare card, and hope he didn't have JJ and would fold. I figured he had to have some kind of a had to flat call that kind of raise, but it also didn't seem like he would have A-x, because AK would likely re-raise, and I don't see how you can make a call there with AQ or lower. I guess I was putting him on something like KK-99, and was hoping the ace would get him to fold. I don't know if that's the right play there, but again, because he just flat called off half of his stack preflop, it really screwed with me postflop when he doesn't have much left in his stack, but the flop missed me pretty hard. Anyways, turned out he just got real lucky on the flop and I ended up losing half my chips.

Anyways, seems like some of my early aggression did pay some dividends later, as I was able to catch the big stack to my right trying to push back at an unfortunate time:

I couldn't hit the call button fast enough. I think I had pushed him around in the blinds once or twice before, so coupled with all my other preflop raises I had been making, I guess he felt like I was full of it. Good double up for me, and I was able to get back into things.

Not much action for me the rest of the second hour, although I had to fold a button re-raise with 88 to a push, and lost a race against Astin 77 < AK, and just like that I was down to 1900 chips. But fortunately I was able to get a big hand at the right time and pick up a nice pot:

Into the third hour, the blinds were up to 200/400/50, so with a stack of 5,000 I needed to make some moves and climb up the leaderboard, which I was able to do by winning three hands in a row, shoving in the big blind to a couple limpers, shoving into the big blind from the small blind, and taking the blinds with from the button. Just like that I was up to 8500 chips, and finally felt like I had some breathing room once again. We were then down to two tables, and I found my third AA hand of the night and jumped up to 10,000 chips, although I gave back a few thousand when my 98 sooted was no good against 66 in the blinds. But I hung in there, got back above the 10,000 chip mark, and was in 6th place or so going into the final table.

Here is my one big suckout hand that I had during the tournament, which propelled me into the chiplead:

Rambler had been aggressive in LP with his raises, which makes since considering he was in the chiplead. I hadn't been able to call his raises before, so I thought was okay to call, and I was okay with getting rid of it on a dangerous flop. I hit the flop pretty hard, with top pair and an open-ended straight draw, and I opted for the check-raise since Rambler was almost certainly going to bet out. Props to him for throwing out what looked to be a perfectly harmless c-bet, I didn't think for a second that he really had much of a hand. I figured even if he did have a hand I was probably drawing to 13 outs, but it turns out I only had 8. But I got lucky and hit one of them, and took over the chip lead.

I didn't get too many eliminations at the final table, although I did knock out AJ with AK when there were six left, to give myself about a 20,000 chip cushion over the second place person. Within about 10 hands 5th through 3rd was eliminated, and since I was not involved in those, I walked into heads up with NYRambler with a 100k to 60k chip deficit. HU didn't last too long, as Rambler was being pretty aggressive, so I decided to take a stand with another check-raise holding an open-ended straight draw, but karma's a bitch and I ran into KK this time, and couldn't find any outs:

I don't really have any problem with my play there. Again, nice job on his part disguising the strength of his hand with a good-sized c-bet, and with his previous aggression it was hard to tell when he actually had a hand. I think my push is successful there a lot, and I got a little unlucky by running into kings. What goes around comes around, I guess. Good game by NYRambler, I felt like he played pretty strong throughout.

Felt good getting second in the Mookie, although I'm sad that I didn't get to sit with Waffles once. I guess there's always next week.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=249
Sports - Just kidding!]]>Obviously I did have my own thoughts on the matter (I felt like the only way Favre would ever play another down of football was for another team), but I certainly didn't subscribe to all this overreaction and hatred for either the Packers or Favre that many people have adopted. I can certainly understand Favre retiring and then changing his mind. I saw Michael Jordan do it twice. I also understand Green Bay wanting to move on once Favre retired and being put in a tight spot when he said he wanted back in. The Packers can't just release him, because it's a horrible business decision, which is easy to see. They didn't want him to play, because they wanted to go with Aaron Rodgers, so that meant his only two options were to stay retired or to be traded away. I don't put a lot of blame on anyone in this situation, it just evolved the way it did and the awkwardness was mostly inevitable. Favre probably hasn't made this as easy as he could have, but whatever.

So now I read that the Packers are going to have an open competition for the starting QB job, and Favre will be there in training camp trying to get his job back. That's certainly a surprising turn of events. To go from all these situations and circumstances to just having Favre come back to training camp like nothing happened and (most likely) take back his role as starting QB? I hope there aren't any long term team morale ramifications from a decision like this. Hopefully Aaron Rodgers is a professional about all of this (He has been so far, and being a first round career backup because the old guy ahead of you on the depth chart won't retire has to be very frustrating) and there isn't any real issue made about any of this. But I will admit I'm a little wary.

Either way, I always enjoy watching Favre play, so it appears that perhaps I can get another season of it...or five.

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Poker - Rebuy!]]>(EDIT: This ended up turning into a pretty long recap, but I have been known to do that, so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise)

I was able to avoid having to rebuy at all, spending the minimum $9 (3,000 starting chips, 2,000 add-on at the break), in part thanks to this hand, fifth hand into the tournament:

Aces in a rebuy period, especially the beginning, are always entertaining, because it's either going to lead to a huge pot, or a brutal suckout. Fortunately my rockets held up and I was already up to 7,000 chips early on.

I think my favorite people in rebuys are the players that push all-in pretty much every hand, and end up rebuying many, many times, but then choose to stop pushing as soon as they double up. So basically they will rebuy for $6, push all-in, lose the hand, repeat ad nauseum. Then, when they finally double up to a monster stack of 6,000 chips, they stop, as if they've reached their goal. Ignore the fact that it just cost them $40 to get there, they now have double their starting stack! tranquillita was definitely one of those people.

I unfortunately gave back a chunk of my stack when I shoved into an EP raiser and a couple callers with AK in the small blind, and the original raiser, the BB and I got it all-in with QQ, AQ, and AK respectively. I would have come out of it unscathed since AQ had 3,000 chips while QQ only had 1,500, but fortunately for me the case Q hit the flop and I lost the main and side pots. Whee. Back down to about 4,000 chips.

Unfortunately, not much else happened in the rebuy period, and after the add-on I was only sitting at 7,000 chips, not where I had hoped to be.

In fact, nothing happened for most of the second hour, and my stack dwindled to about 5,000 chips, when I picked up Kings at the beginning of level 8 (15-minute levels). Like I said, I did not encounter much "quality" play in these:

I know smooth calling for a quarter of my stack is suspicious, but I didn't want him folding to a shove, and I thought it might look a little better considering I was in the BB and had slightly better odds

Not a great flop for me, but I thought I might still be ahead here. I've been c-betting pretty consistently, so I thought a check here might actually represent strength, like I was looking for a check-raise. His check behind was pretty weak to me.

*** TURN *** [] [7s]
Mike_Maloney: checks
starterbz57: bets 1800

At this point, I was feeling pretty good about my hand, so I decided to further feign weakness and check again, to see if I could induce a bet. If he had bet strong, I may have still folded, but after I check the flop and the turn, all the villain can do is muster an 1800 chip bet into a 4200 chip pot? That's a weak, weak bet and is almost always a total bluff. I didn't buy it at all.

I know is not a great hand to take to the felt, but that push on the button is a serious overbet, and I can't help but think I'm at worse racing, and there's a good chance I'm way ahead of a smaller pocket pair. I felt like it was worth the gamble.

Beginning of level 12 now, blinds are at 500/1000/100 and I'm in pretty good shape, although I have a rather aggressive player to my left who has been gunning for me a bit, frequently calling my raises. I'd been waiting for a good chance to get back at him, although I didn't think it would be this easy:

Gold. Sorry, I accidentally put you all-in with a misclick. Maybe he was just trying to bet 5,200 and added an extra zero. Either way, stupid time to pull that off.

This was the first time in the tournament where I had a legitimate stack, I was somewhere in the Top 30 or so, there were probably still over 1,000 players left. I stayed pretty tight for the rest of the hour and into the first half of the second hour, hovering around 90,000-100,00 chips. Here I picked up a decent pot against a shorty:

Shorty pushing from the cutoff, with my stack I am making that call every day of the week. His M is just above 5, his range is huge, and again, at worst I'm racing, but there's a good chance I'm ahead.

Okay, next level, level 15, here's my first big hand that I thought I completely screwed up and confused the hell out of me. I would later realize that my opponent really had no clue what he was doing, and would frequently overcall with nothing but a draw, but I didn't know that at the time:

What a weird line. Villain limps preflop, calls a raise OOP, then bets/calls on the flop, then checks the turn and the river? What the hell is that? I was so lost on this hand by the river, and my push was probably a mistake, but as I discovered later, this guy will play the weirdest hands preflop, and will stick with them even if he only has a draw. I've got a good example of it later on.

Whoops, actually I guess it's the next hand. Up to level 17 now, 2000/4000/400. Weird player:

wtf indeed. I really wanted to bet on the river there to avoid showing my hand, but seriously, what the hell is that? Once I realized that this was how the guy played I was a lot more comfortable dealing with him, but man, this guy just doesn't have a clue. Ultimately he ended up pushing his into my aces (My aces really held up well in this tournament).

Poker's a bitch sometimes. Of course, so is raising K-T sooted from UTG+1.

So this next hand was in level 20, and the only reason I bring it up is because I believe it's my only 4-bet preflop of the tournament. It's really not something I do much of, unless I have a big hand. I might have folded to the 3-bet, but my opponent had recently ramped up the aggression, frequently opening into the pot or re-raising people, along with a double up not too long ago, so I thought there was a good chance he was on a total steal attempt.

Pretty good flop for me. His bet is pretty weak, and comes across as a c-bet, considering it's only about 40% of the pot. When you start getting deeper into a tournament, people with significant stacks can get very conservative, and won't commit to big decisions. Bets like this stick out like a sore thumb, and I felt pretty confident that my opponent was not strong at all, and with a strong drawing hand I felt this was an easy spot to ramp up the aggression.

As you can see, another stellar play from one of my opponents. Just to run some quick numbers, my raise to 85,000 meant there was around 160,000 in the pot, and I had my opponent covered. So when he pushes, it's 85,000 for me to call into a pot of about 320,000. With the second-nut flush draw and two overs, I am never, ever folding getting 4:1. I was actually a little disgusted when my opponent flipped over because he literally had Ace high, but at the time had the better hand. Even still, that's an absolutely awful play on his part, and I was not going to be too thrilled if he won the hand because of it.

But, I hit my flush, and actually at that time I became the chip leader of the tournament, which was kind of cool. There were probably over 100 people left at this point. I continued to pick spots to accumulate chips, not trying to play too aggressive, as the escalating blinds made my stack still very vulnerable to a few lost pots. But I was able to chip up to 700,000, then 800,000 chips.

Here was a fun hand where I got caught trying to steal a hand, but I run goot so it doesn't matter:

Lost a bit in level 24 (8,000/16,000/4,000) when KJ < A8. The next interesting hand was in level 26, where I used some position, aggression, and previous experience to push one of the chipleaders out of a pot:

Opponent had been making it clear that he was not interested in having me steal a bunch of pots. I got away with it a couple times, but then I started seeing a lot more calls and 3-bets from him, so I knew he was making this call pretty light since I was stealing on the button.

This goes back to what I was saying about big stacks playing conservatively. shearmichael was Top 3 in chips at the time, and he was not a terribly wild player. So even when he bet out, I did not give him a lot of credit for a hand. As I said, he was mostly playing back at me, and I don't see him betting out here if he has an ace. If anything, a trap here would be more in order, so a check would have been more suspicious. Nice hand that moved me over the 1 million (!) mark.

Knocked a shorty out with my kings, pushed shearmichael off another hand holding third pair on an A-Q-9-7 board, but wasn't seeing much else.

So, level 27, we get down to our final three tables, and I ultimately make my fatal mistake. With the blinds at 20,000/40,000/4,000, we're looking at 96,000 in every pot, so even the chipleaders sitting at 1.8 million don't even have an M of 20, so every pot was important.

On one hand, I don't mind my thought process there. Check-raising an OESD has its advantages. The problem is, and I kept hearing this from the back of my head, it's a tough flop to pull it off. Let's say I'm holding 6-8 and the flop comes 7-9-2. A check-raise against the original raiser is much more likely to have success, because the flop probably missed him. A K-J-9 flop, on the other hand, is much more dangerous, and there's a decent chance he caught a part of it.

I had a couple options here. First off, I have no problem with my call preflop. It was a button raise, I have suited connectors, not a strong hand, but something I'm okay with playing here. The flop was not a great one for me, but it did give me a strong drawing hand. Any 7 gives me the nuts, and a Q probably gives me the best hand. A check here is okay, betting out might work too, although I would definitely have to fold to any aggression. His bet is a solid one, so I think I either have to call or fold. As I said, given the texture of the flop, trying to push him off the hand is a dangerous idea. I'm not thrilled at the idea of calling his bet, because you have to get away from the hand on the turn if you don't hit. Ultimately, my best play here was probably to check-fold on the flop and live to fight another day. I was sitting about 12th or so in chips, so I certainly was not in danger by folding.

Very unfortunate time to have a laps in judgment like that, as 27th place is really not going to get you any significant money. Still, nice to get that deep, been a while for me, and I felt pretty comfortable for the most part, so hopefully I can see some more of these in the future.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=247
Entertainment - The Dark Knight (No Spoilers)]]>The Dark Knight at the IMAX at Navy Pier on Saturday. Originally, I was going to go with Melissa to the 9AM show on Saturday. She ended up going to Minnesota last weekend, however, and I discovered that the seating at the IMAX is actually numbered, and not GA, which I was not aware of. That was the primary reason for the 9AM time, since I figured you wouldn't have to wait in line for 4 hours to get good seats. So, by the time I realized this, any of the decent times over the weekend were either sold out or only had seats on the edges or in the front, so I ended up getting a ticket for the 6:00AM show on Saturday. It was kind of surreal getting up at 4:30 in the morning on a Saturday to go to a movie, but I certainly enjoyed the visual of hundreds of people heading to Navy Pier at dawn all with the same purpose.

I won't spend a lot of time on the movie, because anyone who has spent any time online knows what great reviews it's received so far. I really enjoyed it, and I know everyone's talking about how great Heath Ledger's performance was (And it was great, guy was beyond creepy at times), but man, I thought Gary Oldman was simply superb. I loved him in Batman Begins, and thought he was even better in the sequel. He'll undoubtedly continue to fly under the radar due to Ledger and Aaron Eckhart, but the guy was great.

The other thing I wanted to mention was how great Chicago looked in the film. In Begins, a lot of the movie was spent elsewhere, either at Wayne Manor or during Bruce's training in Asia, so there wasn't a ton of Chicago footage, and a lot of the city shots featured the Narrows, which was all CGI. This time around, the film really spent most of its time within Gotham City limits, so we ended up seeing a lot of Chicago, which I thought was really cool. There was a scene with Bruce Wayne in a Lamborghini, which was actually filmed right outside our old apartment over a weekend, so it was neat to see what the finished product looked like. Overall it was neat to recognize all the different locations from the city.

Oh yeah, one last thing; if you have an IMAX near you, I really encourage you to go see the movie there instead of a regular movie theater. Not only is the screen bigger, but there are some scenes that Christopher Nolan shot with IMAX cameras. The opening scene is in IMAX, and most of the city skyline shots are all in IMAX, which they integrated very well into the rest of the movie, and it creates some breathtaking moments. Very impressive stuff.

I'm excited that I get to go see the movie again, as I'm going this Friday with Melissa since she couldn't see it over the weekend. I was willing to be a good sport and go see it again.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=246
Poker - MTT Action]]>. Well, a bunch for me, it was still probably a below average number for people like sucko. It ended up being a -EV experience for my bankroll, but a +EV probably in the long term as I was able to sit down and get a lot of exposure to MTT play. Outside of the occasional MTT here and there, I haven't played with a lot of frequency in 2008, so I definitely think it helped to sit in on as many as possible. Plus, I was able to play in some higher buy-in tourneys, like yesterday's $69+6 $65k, and Friday's $150+13 $65k (I think, don't remember the exact guarantee number).

As I said, I didn't have much success in any of them, but felt okay about my play. Most of my bustouts involved me getting in my money ahead, or a few were racing, so sometimes that's just the way things work out. I don't care too much when I'm in ahead and lose, it's when I get it all-in and am behind that makes me mad, because it usually means I made a poor play. It was a tough weekend for me when it came to races, as it seemed like I could win the races when someone else was all-in, but never when I was the one all-in. I think my favorite bust out was in the 50-50 last night, around 250-300 left with 150 getting paid, I'm probably around average stack or so, maybe a little under, and I was trying to make a move on the button with A-x against a LP raiser. The SB ends up flat calling instead and the LP raiser folds, which is not exactly what I was looking for. Flop comes K-Q-J with two suited, SB checks, I tank and ultimately shove, thinking it's a scary enough board that I can shove with a lot of hands, a pair, two pair, even a set. SB thinks, and then calls with...Q-10! Sunday tournament poker, gotta love it. I'm more appalled at his preflop call than anything. But, they were sooted, so obviously you can't fold.

That reminds me, I ran into so many aggrotards and calling stations, it was ridiculous. I felt like I had so many steal attempts go wrong, so many 3-bets go wrong, all my bluff attempts were getting check-raised, it was quite bizarre.

I think the good news to come out of the weekend is that I was able to have success in pretty much every tournament I played in, frequently finding myself in very good shape at some point in time in the first couple of hours at a lot of my tables. Although I need to work on my endgame in sats/token tourneys. I had some very disappointing bubble finishes that really got under my skin, as that's not something I find myself doing often. And it wasn't even that I was clinging onto a short stack and just couldn't quite stay in long enough, each time I had a healthy stack and made some poor, poor plays near or on the bubble that ended up costing me. It really caught me off guard, and I will have to work on preventing that kind of crap from happening in the future.

I've decided that I really like those $15 sats to the 50-50, and I think I'm going to try and play them more often, whether I want to play in the tournament that night or not, because it gives you a good shot of picking up some T$, and the play is pretty bad, so if you can get a double up or two you're usually in pretty good shape. I'm also looking for some good rebuy sats...the $3R for the 50/50 actually ended up giving you some pretty decent equity, I think. If anyone has any other sat suggestions I'd love to hear them.

I think that's all I've got for now. I'll probably get more cash in this week, since sitting down at a cash game is much more flexible than playing in a tournament, but I might have a couple days this week where I can get some more tourneys in.

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Poker - Blogger Cash Game]]>bankroll boost, I decided that I could gambool a bit. It started off great, because I was planning on just playing with $200 and not the full $400 buy-in; unfortunately I still had the auto top off feature turned on, so as soon as I sat in, Full Tilt was kind enough to boost me up to the full $400. Doh. So it was either play, or leave the table and sit back in again. Unfortunately there was already a waiting list going, and I didn't want to have to wait an hour or more to sit back down again, so I just sucked it up and hoped I didn't get stack.

Even better was that I had this aggrotard sitting to my left. I'm not going to pretend that I played well at all, because I didn't. I'm not a great cash player to begin with, and on top of that, I was sitting at a table full of people who are much more successful cash players and play at higher levels than me. So I was definitely in a -EV situation, but blogger cash games are fun, so it's all good.

I played about 150 hands over a couple hours, and let me just say, my cards were simply awful. Up until the last orbit or so, I had seen 99 three times, 77 twice, and 44 and 33 once. Those were all the pocket pairs I had. I finally got KK a little before I finished up (I'll discuss later), but really, not much going on. Didn't get AK once. But hey, I got the JackAce 4 times. Whee. I was already playing pretty tight poker as it was, so the crap cards didn't really help.

Okay, so The Poker Gnome can get pretty aggressive, particularly when he's in position. I opted to check here, feeling like I was ahead, and full expecting to have to call a bet.

*** RIVER *** [Kc ] []
Mike_Maloney checks
smizmiatch has 15 seconds left to act
smizmiatch has requested TIME
smizmiatch bets $70
Mike_Maloney has 15 seconds left to act
Mike_Maloney has requested TIME
Mike_Maloney calls $70
*** SHOW DOWN ***
smizmiatch shows [] a pair of Fours
Mike_Maloney shows [] a pair of Aces
Mike_Maloneywins the pot ($234) with a pair of Aces
smizmiatch adds $117

The river was probably a blank, but I tanked for a while trying to decide where I was at. I actually probably misjudged Gnome's range here, and I wasn't keeping it wide enough, as it's entirely possible for him to be holding something like T8. AA, KK, and AK are all possibilities I suppose, but I would think he might be likely to 3-bet preflop, and I wasn't feeling any of those hands postflop. I don't think he'd call with a weaker ace, like A10 or A8, because unless you hit 2 pair, you really run into kicker issues on an A-high flop. 44 is a possible holding, 88 or TT I think I would have been 3-bet preflop. All in all, there wasn't anything that I was real scared of, and like I said, I really felt like Gnome was just using his aggression to make a move on me since I had been playing so passive. I think I like my read there, although I'm certainly open to criticism.

Next 30 or so hands I had absolutely nothing to play, so I used my uberweaktight image to get Bone_Daddy to lay down an overpair:

I felt like my 3-bet would carry some legitimacy to it because of how few hands I had played. Raggy flop, I figured I should keep it up and bet out strong. I didn't think BD was as strong as JJ, but I was surprised that he was willing to lay it down.

Nothing of real significance after that for a while, a few positional take downs, stuff like that. As time went on we had a few non-bloggers infiltrate our table, and I decided to take one out:

Funny that I called here, because recently I've been mulling over a poor play I made smooth calling with KK preflop. Situation here is a little different, though, and I think I could have gone either way. I was a little concerned about flat-calling, because I didn't want to have a bunch of people call after me. However, as I've mentioned, I was playing really tight, and my 3-bet above was one of only 2 times I think all session that I had 3-bet, and the only time I did it preflop, so I thought a 3-bet here would look really suspicious and could kill my action. Ultimately that was what swayed me to just call. I was secretly hoping that tulegit21 would try and squeeze on the button, because he had been aggressive in LP some in his short time at the table.

*** FLOP *** []
cmitch bets $14
Mike_Maloney has 15 seconds left to act
Mike_Maloneyraises to $28
cmitch: i guess my frat is back on campus now after getting kicked off for a while
tulegit21 raises to $56
cmitch folds
Mike_Maloney has 15 seconds left to act
cmitch: Delta Chi
Mike_Maloney calls $28

No real reason for the min-raise, to be honest. I was a little worried by tulegit's min-reraise, but the fact that he smooth called preflop made me think the only hand he could have that beat me was probably 55, and I didn't think there was enough of a chance of that for me to fold.

I would like to preface everything my making a note that when I checked, he insta-pushed. Didn't even hesitate. I read this as him being weak. As I said, I didn't put him on any mid-to-high pocket pairs, because I would have expected a 3-bet preflop. 9-10 is probably the hand I fear most, but I'm not sure if he instapushes there. QJ might be possible. In the end, the push looked to me like he felt I was weak, or at least weak enough to fold to that kind of action. Because of that, and because of what I felt his range was, I thought there was a good enough chance that I was ahead to make the call. Turns out he was actually pretty strong, but I dodged any outs and picked up a nice pot.

I played another orbit or so, until I donked out of the tournaments I was playing in at the same time, and called it a night. All in all I won $270, which I'm obviously going to be pretty happy with. Actually, it's funny, I've only played one other blogger cash game, and it was last August, also at 200NL. I crushed that game thanks to one particular donk, who I put all-in twice while holding AA and KK, and finished up $300 at the end of the night (Recap is here). So what's the lesson here? Play tight, blogger games are EZ.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=244
Site Update - Adding Comments]]>That's a pain in the ass for people, and I decided to just ditch the CAPTCHA, and instead put up my own bot checker, which consists of you determining whether you are a bot or not, and then selecting the appropriate radio button. If you deny being a bot, then your comment is displayed. If you admit to being a bot, or choose to abstain from my difficult questioning, then your comment will fall into the abyss, never to be seen again.

Sounds pretty simple, I guess we'll see if it's enough to fool the bots.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=243
Poker - $10r Recap]]>

I was taking a page from LJ's book last Friday and "worked from home", which is usually the key to finding good results in poker tournaments. I have played very few rebuys before, and those that I did, I don't think I've ever had great results. The $10 rebuy started out well for me, and I just went from there. After picking up the add-on at the start of the tournament, it only took me 4 hands to knock off a half stack.

Poker is easy when people throw their stack at you while you're holding the second nuts. Nothing else significant for the first hour, took down several pots with c-bets, and picked up the add-on during the break to sit at about 7,000 chips going into hour 2.

I think my favorite thing about this rebuy was that we had 48 runners, and 12 of them were eliminated in the first hour and didn't rebuy. 25% of the field simply was there to donate and give themselves virtually no shot at cashing. Simply brilliant. Here's the thing about a rebuy; even if you're one of those nits who like to play them, but don't want to spend money in them (Although if you don't want to spend money to begin with, don't play a rebuy), you can simply fold for the first hour, then take the add-on at the end of the first hour. You only have to pay the minimum of $30, and you can find yourself with 4,000-5,000 chips to do battle with going forward. And that's without even playing a hand in the first hour.

But I digress. So now, instead of 12.5% of the field getting paid, 17% gets paid, and for $30, I'm in a tournament with a $1600 prize pool. Neat.

After the break I was just above the average stack, and I sat back and played my standard game, which for those of you who know me is pretty tight, although I will pull some shenanigans if I have position. About halfway through the second hour I had an interesting hand come up. I liked the move at the time, although looking back I'm not sure if it was a great idea. I caught a break because my opponent was bad, and picked up a nice stack.

I guess you can get away with some hands when you have opponents like that. That got me up into the Top 15, and with the blinds always going up I was able to take down some pots, most preflop, mostly just staying afloat. Next big hand came at the start of hour three.

So that was a nice hand for me, bumped me up to somewhere in the Top 5 overall, and let me bully people a bit. A little later I busted a short stack trying to steal from the button with my in the big blind; I think he had 9-7 or something like that. Here was a fun mandatory call to bust a shortie hand.

Down to about 12 or so, and I'm sitting in the top 3 in chips, and feeling pretty good about my chances to cash. We hit the final table, and I think I was second in chips at the time. Shortly into it I took a nice chiplead with this steal attempt gone-wrong-gone-nice.

Guy left about 6,000 behind, and I opted to just make the call on the river since my flush was only 8-high. In hindsight this was a bad play by me, because with the and the on the board, I really shouldn't be too worried about the villain calling my raise preflop with higher flush cards. Not only do you leave chips out there, but you also don't eliminate an opponent when you have the chance. Weak play on my part.

Another big hand for me thanks to players loving to check and give me free cards.

I'm interested in what people think is the right play here on the river. I bet 11,000 because it was about half of his remaining stack. I thought a push might scare him away, but I was hoping instead of just calling he would commit the rest of his chips. I'm not totally sure I maximized my value here.

I have a nice stack here, almost 2:1 to the 2nd place person, but I wasn't able to wield it for very long, as the money bubble burst a few hands later, with two shorties, one with and one with all-in pre-flop against who ended up turning quads, lol.

At this point we're sitting five-handed, and the good news is I'm one of two big stacks (There's one medium stack and two shorties), the bad news is he's sitting right to my left. I was concerned, because he seemed to be a pretty solid player, making a lot of moves in position and generally annoying me. However, once I actually got to showdown with him, I realized he was just really aggro, and not necessarily "good".

So this hand led me to realize that he will frequently bet out at any sign of hesitation from his opponent, which I proceeded to exploit whenever possible, and caught him making several river bluffs with complete crap. bigfranky's aggression would ultimately be his downfall over the course of a couple hands.

55/45 dog, so it was a nice catch for me, but I still think I like the call there. If I'm completely off base here I would love to know.

Crap, looking over my hand history, PokerTracker missed a couple hands I wanted to throw up here. They were just a couple sick hands ptownbrad and I had. First was me being priced in to call an all-in with A-8, only for him to flip over A-A. Then, later on, the guy was in total push-fold mode like an idiot, and I actually had A-A, so I lured him in, and he pushed with some crap, and turned trips on me. Bastard.

We got down to three-handed for a while, I was never the short stack, although I think we ended up being even for a little while. Eventually I built my stack back up, and then third place pushed into second place, and we were heads up.

Heads up literally lasted 4 hands. Hand #1, I complete in the SB, he pushes. Hand #2, he folded the SB. Hand #3, I complete in the SB, he pushes on the flop. So, I can see how this is going to be, and just plan on biding my time until I get a hand. Fortunately, I find AK on hand #4.

And there you go. Pretty unspectacular tournament for me, there was never a time when I was in danger, or a shortstack, as I chipped up pretty early on, and after the rebuy period I just never felt the pressure. A big reason for that was that my hands were holding up, I was 7 for 7 or 9 for 9 at showdowns going into the final table. I felt pretty good once we were in the money, aside from aggro franky, the other players were pretty easy to play back at, and I thought I had a good shot of taking it down.

It was a good cash for me, biggest one I've had for a while, and it's just nice to get back into the MTT groove, I've been out of it for a while. I need to get some tokens and start playing some more of my favorite deep stack tourneys, or play the 50/50.

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Personal - Starting a new chapter...]]>My company decided earlier this year to restructure how our U.S. field offices were organized. It was set up so that all of our offices were split up into five different 'zones' around the country. So the structure changes basically involved going from five zones, to two 'territories', East and West. This is one of those shakeups that affects pretty much everyone, because there are many jobs in our different SBUs that are set up as zonal positions, not to mention the general structure of all of the SBUs has to change.

My department is a little unique in its setup, as there are only 15 or so of us out in the field, but since I've only been in my current position for about a year, I was at the bottom of the totem pole as far as seniority goes. Turns out they had to trim down on the number of jobs they had out in the field and in Home Office, which basically meant my position was being eliminated. I guess I had kept the possibility in the back of my head when I first heard about all of these changes, but at the same time, our Chicago office is one of the biggest offices in the field, so I thought I might be safe so that they could have a presence here. Considering the two other people they got rid of were in L.A. and Boston, clearly having a body in our big offices was not a priority.

So, that's the bad news, as I really enjoyed my job and felt there were a lot of things that I had wanted to do with the position that I never had time for. The good news is that I was able to secure another position in my company in a different department. One of the nice things about working in an office with hundreds of employees is that there is usually a few open positions available at any given time. I don't think my new job will be as challenging as my current job, but at the same time it's in a very different area from where I'm at now, and I will get to learn a lot about the underwriting side of the business. Plus, I think it will be nice to actually have a team of people in the office to work with again, instead of my job now which is very isolated.

As it's set up now, I'm scheduled to finish up my current job on Wednesday, and I move into my new position starting next Monday. It's disappointing to have to leave my current job, but on the bright side, it's good to have any kind of job at all considering how things are going these days, especially with our newly acquired mortgage to look after.

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Rant - Jumping the Shark]]>However, VH1 just couldn't stop, and decided to overexpose the series. First was "I Love the 80s 3-D". Now, it's entirely possible that three hours may have been enough time to spend on a particular year, but watching some of the shows, the content definitely came across as pretty weak compared to what we saw in the first two incarnations. Then they came out with crap like "I Love the Holidays" and "I Love Toys" which were either just bad, or had a very hollow feel to them.

While we're on the subject, all the "I Love" series shows led to the creation of "Best Week Ever", which was a similarly formatted show to all of the "I Love" series, only it was a weekly show that discussed the latest goings on in pop culture. Good show at first, but definitely unable to maintain its momentum, and any time I watch it now, I feel like I'm watching Talk Soup, which makes me sad, because Talk Soup was a pretty funny show back when it was just John Henson by himself with the crew for the show serving as his audience as well. Now, it just sucks. That's kind of how "Best Week Ever" is.

But anyways, we're talking about the "I Love" series jumping the shark. It may have already occurred with the 80s 3-D, but if not, it definitely did this week. Because VH1 has decided to debut "I Love the New Millennium". So, what's the problem with this? I mean, they've done the 70s, 80s, and 90s, the 00s are the next decade up, right? Yes, I suppose that's true. Too bad the decade isn't over yet! So what's their solution? They've only produced shows for 2000 to 2007. Nice. Way to capitalize on the popularity of the series by completely screwing up the premise of it.

Honestly though, it's not even that part of the series that drives me nuts. I tried watching an episode last night, I think it was 2003. At the start of my post, I talked about why the series was successfull: nostalgia. For a lot of people watching "I Love the 80s/90s", it brings them back to another time, most likely when they were kids, or growing up. They can reflect fondly about that time in their lives. When I'm watching a show recapping 2003, it's not really doing it for me. Many things they talk about are still prominent today. For example:

-The O.C. - Okay, this isn't on TV anymore, but it was up until last year.
-Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - Okay, this movie was part of a trilogy, and the last part of the trilogy came out last year.
-Arnold Schwarzenegger - Yes, he became the Governator in 2003. Newsflash, still governor.
-Chappelle's Show - Only lasted from 2003 to 2006, but is still in heavy syndication.
-Michael Jackson accused of child molestation - Boy, good thing Michael Jackson jokes have really died down...
-Joe Millionaire - Okay, this show isn't around anymore, but why the hell are they bringing it up anyways? Considering how easy it is to put together a successful reality show these days, the fact that this show bombed in its second season probably means it isn't worth remembering.
-Paris Hilton's sextape - Again, good thing Paris Hilton being a slut isn't ever talked about in today's media so that we can reflect on the good ol' days.
-McGriddles - um, what? I love me a McGriddle, but I must have missed the part where they were ever a dominant part of pop culture. Not to mention, they're still a commonplace item on the breakfast menu at McDonalds.

Really, the only item that they talked about that should actually have been on the show was Saddam Hussein getting captured, since that was a moment in history that everyone can reflect on.

If there's no nostalgia feel to the show, then what's the point? That's what the show is there for, people aren't going to feel nostalgic about crap that happened a few years ago. You have to give a decade a few years to get settled and establish an identity before you start revisiting it and making people feel all warm and fuzzy.

The basic principle of the entire "I Love" series is completely missing in "I Love the New Millennium", and as a result, the series has officially jumped the shark. But considering how much the entertainment industry loves to run ideas into the ground until no one cares about them anymore, it was really only a matter of time before it happened with this show.

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Entertainment - Fun with search engines]]>-"lying out your ass" will find a post written by me as the very first result, lol. It's actually a post where I discuss the prospects of someone playing 100NL poker online full-time asa job.

-"'playing draws' poker shoving" doesn't really have anything interesting as a result, aside from the fact that my site shows up just before Alan's, just to provide a little bit of evidence that I am, in fact, better than him.

-Probably my favorite, "bill simmons jackass" was a post I made after Bill Simmons decided to write this retarded piece comparing the 2007 New England Patriots to a championship Boston Celtics team...before the New England Patriots had even made it to the Super Bowl. Well, we know how well that turned out. Nice to see my post is the top result, although a little surprising, since it's not like the internet hating on Bill Simmons is anything new.

-"福留 孝介 jersey". Fukudome, whoot! I'm fairly surprised that this is the second result, since it's not like Kosuke Fukudome is the most obscure name ever.

Okay, those were just a few I wanted to share with you.

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Site Update - Leaving comments]]>]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=238
Poker - Mookie Recap]]>First significant hand for me was actually a laydown. It was probably during the 40/80 or 50/100 level, I raised in MP/LP with JJ and had a player to my left jam for about 3,000 (I was a little below the starting stack, 2,700 or 2,800). The player had been fairly loose in his range, so I thought there was a good chance I was ahead. I tanked and ended up folding because it was still early on in the tournament. I think that's the right play there, because I only want to call if I'm fairly certain he's holding a mid-pocket pair, and honestly I wasn't totally sure. I think it's equally likely that he has AK/AQ, maybe QQ, probably not KK or AA though. I dunno, I just didn't think Jacks were very strong there.

I chipped up a bit when I got it all-in on the flop with Fuel, who was a short stack at the time. I raised in MP with 99, and the two blinds called (Fuel was in the SB with about 650 left). Flop was K-6-8, and Fuel checked, which really bothered me since he called the preflop raise for about 25-30% of his stack, then he just checks the flop. But, with a third person in the hand, and it checked around to me, I felt like I had to bet there. Fuel jammed, and I was already priced in to call, so he flipped over 6-8 for two pair. However, I think we hit runner runner fours to send Fuel home. Wheeeeeeeee!

Second big hand was when I had in MP and raised it up, only to get re-raised from the button. I raised up to 300, he re-raised to 1,000, which was a third of his stack, so he seemed to be pretty committed. I thought about it, and decided this was a good time to take a stand and pushed. He actually called pretty quickly, but only had AQo, which I think is a bad hand to play that hard. If I had been very loose with my preflop raises then I get the desire to play back, but I had been very tight. Anyways, my AK held up and I was up to around 6,000 in chips.

I pretty much stayed around that level for a while, although I did get up to 8,000 or so after re-stealing in the SB with A-x. This led to the next significant hand, I think blinds were at 150/300. CO+1 raises up to 900, I'm in the CO with JJ, so I re-raise up to 2700. I thought about pushing, but didn't. CO+1 flat calls, then jams the flop which comes down Q-A-Q. Pretty much a bad flop for me, but is there any way you call that jam here? I couldn't justify it, so I ended up folding and losing a third of my stack. That was a tough hand, as I went from a top 10 stack to down near the bottom of the pile. I ended up trying to re-steal in the SB with A-4, but I didn't have the fold equity that I was hoping for, and the button called with K-J. Flop was Q-10-x, turn was a J, and the river was an Ace to give him the straight, and IGH in 20th.

Tough way to go out, but as I said, didn't get much to work with, card-wise or position-wise, so my opportunities were limited. There were some sick hands last night, though, I forgot how brutal these things are sometimes. LJ had a hand where she got it in preflop with A8 against KK. Opponent flops a set, LJ pairs her A, turn is an 8, river is an A for the better full house. So crazy.

I felt like I saw too many people getting it all-in with TPTK. It's like, once people see that TP drop, they completely forget about how the rest of the hand played out, and they just can't fathom that they might not be ahead. I also saw someone call off over half their stack, then fold the river on what appears to be an obvious busted flush draw. Lots of -EV plays, with people not being careful enough with their stacks, and willing to give up large portions of their stacks with draws, or TP. Gotta be smarter than that.

It was nice to get back into the blonkaments, and I even got a couple bounties, which was nice, as I do not appear to be very conducive to picking up bounties in knockout tourneys for whatever reason.

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Entertainment - LOST 4.13/4.14 Thoughts]]>As much as I always loved 24's format of nonstop shows every week, it always makes the offseason that much harder, because it's so long. Now we'll be seeing the same thing with LOST, as it goes on hiatus until February or so. Fortunately, I still have to re-watch Season 3, as I sort of took a break after re-watching the first two seasons, and I'm sure there are extras on all the DVDs that I haven't watched yet, so not all is lost. Ha, I'm so punny.

I actually didn't get a chance to watch the season finale until Sunday because Melissa had some family in town. I managed to avoid any serious spoilers (I think I read that we would find out who was in the coffin, which I had assumed we were going to find that out anyways, although thinking back, the title of Julius' LOST post pretty much gave that away, although it never dawned on me when I saw it in my Google Reader). I was a little worried, however, because I had been getting this opinion from people who had either read spoilers or watched the episode that the show had done that dirty little thing called "jumping the shark. I thought that probably wasn't the case, because often times I find critics of LOST don't really understand what the show is about, but it definitely got me a little anxious. Fortunately I didn't really have anything to worry about. I thought the episode was great, and I love that the season finale can literally set up the last two full seasons of a show. One of those nice things about having an endpoint in place, and more importantly, having the company airing your shows (ABC) in agreement.

It was an interesting season finale, because, due to the constant flash forwards, most everything on the show played out how we expected it to, and even the surprises weren't that surprising. But...that's not a bad thing. As I said, the finale was a set up for the next two seasons. Honestly, I have no idea where we will be when Season 5 rolls around, as in, what time will be "the present" during each episode. We have seen different times in the flash forward, but apparently the most significant time period is a few years after the rescue, where Locke, under the name of Jeremy Bentham, appears to the survivors, and then inexplicably dies. So, does that time period at some point become the present, and everything we missed inbetween is shown to us in flashbacks? Or do we continue on our normal time path, and witness more of the future in our flash forwards?

It doesn't seem to me that it is very feasible for the show to continue on it's present timeline. Once they are off the island, aside from smaller incidents (Hurley going back to the mental hospital, Sun having her baby, Kate's charges being dropped, etc.), it appears to be business as usual for the survivors. Jack and Kate, who live together and raise Aaron, don't seem to encounter issues until Locke shows up and says something to Jack. Sayid starts getting into it the earliest, as he begins working for Ben as an assassin, but we can learn more about that from flashbacks, and things change for him too because of Bentham, as he goes to get Hurley out of the hospital. Sun seems to be living her life, raising her child, owning her father's company, when an appearance from Bentham suddenly draws some interest from her to seek out Mr. Charles Widmore in a possible alliance.

So, it's not that nothing happens in the three years between the rescue and when Locke shows up, but it seems to me that the important stuff that can carry the rest of the show happens down the road, with the Survivors, Ben, and Locke. Everything else that we've missed, the fate of those on the island, the battle between Ben and Widmore, how many babies Penny and Desmond have, we can get caught up by flashbacks. Nothing more than a hunch, but it would seemingly make sense to pick up the show in the future when it returns next year.

Let's get to some quick hits:

-Well, we know Locke is going to get a name change, then he's going to get dead, and no one besides Jack really seems to care. What could he have possibly told Jack that could affect him so much that he would all of a sudden believe that they were supposed to stay on the island, that Locke was right, and even make him contemplate suicide? I personally can't wait for that confrontation, because it's going to be awesome. What happened on the island that caused Locke to leave? It was mentioned that things had gotten bad on the island. Because of Locke? Very interested to see what becomes of Sawyer, Juliet, and the rest of the Others.

-Ben moved the island (After stabbing Mr. Green-Beret-bullets-don't-stop-me-only-slow-me-down Keamy in the neck). The obvious question is, where, and when, did he move it to. And was he telling the truth when he said he couldn't come back after he moved it? That's the thing about Ben, you always have to take anything he says to Locke with a grain of salt, because ultimately Locke enjoys sitting right in Ben's pocket, and Ben feeds him little morsels of information every once in a while, and Locke takes them and is just happy to be along for the ride, even if it's not all true. One thing that seems to fit together, though, is that Ben has his winter parka on, the same parka he showed up in when he appeared in the desert. So...perhaps he does leave the island, and goes to the desert..

-Jin. :( I was really holding out hope that he would end up on the island. I guess it's possible he jumped off before the ship blew up, but I'm not exactly holding my breath. I can certainly see why Sun was a little cold to Jack after they got back to the US.

-Another plus to moving the show into the future? You can show Walt on TV again without having everyone giggle about how he's gone from being 10 to 19 over the course of several months.

-I love in Jack's bitterness that he tries to claim that Locke/Ben didn't move the island, and then Hurley totally owned him in the process.

-I'm sure we haven't heard the end of Mr. Faraday. Certainly interested in hearing what happens to him. Probably didn't get back to the island before it disappeared. So...what does that mean for him? He's a fairly frail guy, so if everyone in the boat turns to cannibalism, I don't like his chances. He certainly didn't fare too well the last time he was put in that situation.

-Another advantage to putting the show in the future? We don't have to look at Aaron, the hulking three-month old anymore.

I'm sure there's plenty more I could discuss, but this is probably long enough already, so I will stop for now. I might post my findings during my Season 3 review, we'll see.

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Personal - Quick Update]]>But, June is a new month. No travel is scheduled (Well, maybe a work trip to Des Moines), very few visits by friends/family, and in general I hope that we will be able to sit back and relax and enjoy our new place and the nice weather. That being said, I do have a few posts up my sleeve that I would like to get out this week:

-LOST, first and foremost. I missed out on the last couple of recaps, but I did watch the Season Finale on Sunday, and will have some thoughts on that.

-Poker. As anticipated, I have had absolutely zero internet problems at our new place, which is great news, and has allowed me to play poker once again. My poker game has been absolutely atrocious lately, so I'll discuss that a bit, but also, I took down a 90-person S&G last night (A huge $1 90-person S&G, btw), and I want to do some analysis on that, for my sake if nothing else.

-Photos. I have some photos of a couple of Cubs gams I need to put up on my web album. Some of them turned out pretty cool I thought.

Been a while since I've had any good pictures to post. We went to the Shedd Aquarium with the family for Mother's Day. The fish and the dolphins and the Beluga whales and the penguins were all cool and everything, but I was only really excited for the Komodo Dragon exhibit they had there (A bunch of lizards at an aquarium??). It did not fail to disappoint, as not only was it cool to see an 8-foot long 150 lb. dragon, but there were a bunch of cool looking lizards to check out, too.

I absolutely love our new camera, too. No flash opportunities, and taking pictures through glass and dealing with crappy reflections, I'm pretty impressed with how well many of the photos turned out.

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Entertainment - LOST 4.10 Thoughts]]>Grand Theft Auto IV on Wednesday. To say it's very engrossing is a mild understatement. I was so into it that when I stopped playing to eat dinner, Melissa mentioned something about LOST and I had completely forgotten it was going to be on last night. Yikes. Melissa's birthday is at the end of the month, let's hope I don't forget that too.

Well, I did manage to catch LOST last night, and it was about what I expected, although there were some nice bonuses placed throughout the episode. The 'Jack is sick' plot line was one of the weaker stories they've had going this season. One of the drawbacks to having flash forwards is that you can't tease the audience with character deaths anymore. We know Jack survives. We've seen it. So you can't have him develop appendicitis and try and draw any drama out of having to perform this life-saving surgery on him, because everyone knows he's going to survive. And the story didn't serve as a vehicle to deliver some side bit of information, aside from dealing with the Jack/Kate love affair, which, again, not really that important. It wasn't as over the top dramatic as the previews made it out to be, but it was still a pretty lame story to put in the show. But, we had other stuff that did a better job of piquing my interest:

-Christian's back. Whoo! Easily one of my favorite characters, the way he is seemingly intertwined with so many people on this show, and is constantly showing up in the most random of places, despite, ya know, dying. Too bad those bastard writers just teased his appearance, having him appear for all of ten seconds on the show. I guess they still know how to reel me in.

-So first we have Christian showing up to haunt Jack after Hurley tells him that Charlie said someone was going to visit Jack. Interesting that he and Charlie have regular conversations, as opposed to just the one off that we saw in the season premiere. He also mentioned that Jack "shouldn't raise him", presumably talking about Aaron. Interesting tidbit, and could go back to the fortune teller's warning to Claire about how she must raise Aaron, and that he can't be raised by another (Unless he said an Other, which carries a whole different meaning to it).

-Our other Jack flash forward showed Jack as a depressed, drug-addicted, alcoholic, etc. doctor, contemplating suicide and clearly wanting to go back to the island. After seeing him at Kate's trial, it seemed as though this was significantly further into the future. However, after watching this episode, it might not be as far ahead as I thought. I like the irony of his father of all people driving him into this drunken downward spiral. Obviously this thing with Kate isn't going to last, but I'll be interested to see what it takes for him to find his desire to return to the island. Whatever it is, it better involve Christian Shepard.

-Jack mentioned that Sawyer made the choice to stay on the island. So perhaps he's not dead?

-Claire is now officially recognized as Christian's daughter. We've been lead to believe that ever since Christian went with Ana Lucia to a house in Australia to see his daughter, but now we have some confirmation. Some very interesting things about that brief confrontation:

*Claire recognizes who her father is, despite the fact that Christian lived and worked in Los Angeles. Australia isn't exactly a quick trip around the block, and yet he must have had some semi-frequent contact with Claire. I had just assumed that he hadn't seen her since she was an infant.

*It would seem that the drama behind who is the baby's daddy is going to be revealed to Jack and Claire (or at least Jack) at some point in time, since he seems to be aware that Aaron is his half-nephew.

*Here's the real kicker: Miles saw Claire walk off with Christian in the middle of the night! Now, we have to remember that Miles has some weird mental ability that we don't completely understand, so this may have something to do with that, but still, the fact that he actually saw Christian, wow. I don't even know what to make of that.

-As I mention constantly, Sawyer is totally under appreciated and is a totally awesome character. He's a very protective guy, despite what people may want to think of him. It's very endearing to see him protect Claire and Aaron the way that he did. Of course, Claire's gone now, so I guess he's not that great at it.

-I wonder if we'll ever see Claire again. There has to be some kind of resolution to her story, you can't just go from her wandering off into the jungle with her father and leaving her baby behind to Kate claiming the child and raising it as her own.

-Last week we discovered that Dr. Bernard knows Morse code, this week we learn that Charlotte knows Korean. Oh, snap. Nice job by Jin to totally call her out on it. It also looks like we're setting up our separation of Sun and Jin, with Sun getting off the island, and Jin...well, not. As long as I can still hold out hope that he survives on the island, and doesn't die.

-Kate looks completely out of character trying to be Suzy Homemaker. It's probably because I've grown to distrust her so much over the course of the show, but she just looks like someone who is always on the run (And given her flashbacks, they certainly seem to back that theory up), so the idea of her just hangin' at home with her kid is amusing to say the least. Jack trying to read a kid bedtime stories is almost as awkward, but not quite.

That's everything I can think of for now. Next week's episode looked bizarre. Was that guy they showed Ben's father? Or was it Jacob? Whoever it is, no wonder poor Hurley ends up in the nuthouse when he gets rescued.

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Rant - Poker Advertising]]>that I'm not the only one who gets annoyed at the ghey ass poker advertising blogger posts. You wanna get paid to have that crap on your blog? Fine, go for it. I just think it's awful, and I'm with Astin, it just makes me want to avoid places like BetUS.

Static links and ads on your page are one thing, although I've discovered some bloggers have no concept of page layout whatsoever, and the result is something I would expect from a Myspace page, and just reminds me to stick to reading their posts in Google Reader. Any time I get offers for text ads on my site, I usually respond with some ridiculous fee, because I spent a lot of time on my site, and I'd rather not have some schmuck's advertising being a nuisance.

That's all, just wanted to rant for a second.

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Entertainment - LOST 4.9 Thoughts]]>So, LOST is finally back for another 5 episodes (Although I don't know how many hours that translates to because I heard the finale is something like 3 hours). Let's all do a happy dance!

They certainly kicked off the return with a bang, giving us one of the biggest, most significant episodes we've had in quite some time. I'm glad my other respected LOSTbuddies also appreciated the episode's importance. LOST has always been about more than just people stranded on an island trying to get off, that's been clear since the first episode. However, getting off the island has always been the overall primary purpose of the show. Until this season, that is. With the introduction of the flash forward concept, we now understand that there are survivors who get off the island, and there are others who do not. We are still learning bits and pieces of everyone's fate, but now that we know that there are in fact survivors who are rescued and taken off the island, that aspect of the show has really ceased to be its primary driver.

Benjamin Linus, and really, the island, have taken over the show. This is now what LOST is about. It's about the island, it's about Ben, and it's about Charles Widmore. It's Ben vs. Charles in a war over the island. The survivors are still present, and they still play a role in the story, but the focus is no longer on them. Will they ever get the focus back? I'm guessing not, but it's possible. Last week's episode really hammered home the point that this new path is what the show is going to be until its story is completed. The episode featured Ben, and we saw our second fast-forward involving Ben (We previously saw that Sayid was working for Ben in the future as some kind of hired gunman). The fast-forward opened many questions, but also served to provide us with some much needed exposition regarding the afore mentioned battle between Ben and Charles.

I really feel like this episode was the foundation for the rest of the show. Just something to keep in mind going forward.

-It appears that Mr. Keamy is, in fact, one bad dude. As we learned from Ben, the guy is a textbook mercenary, and appears to be a pretty good one at that. I've always referred to him as Test, because he reminds me a lot of ex-WWE wrestler Andrew "Test" Martin:

although I like Goat referring to him as a roided up Matthew Lillard:

We find out his team was responsible for offing Karl and Rousseau last week, not the Others as I had speculated, and then to really put him over the evil edge, he executes Ben's daughter right in front of Ben. That's some cold-blooded stuff right there. It looks like Keamy's not done yet, so it'll be interesting to see going forward just how much of a bad guy he turns out to be. All I know is that I hope Ben gets the opportunity to mess him up.

-Okay, I don't know what the LOST writers were going for during Sawyer's big heroic scene, but it ended up being completely hilarious. The endless stream of people coming out of the house to see what was going on, only to get shot in the chest, followed by Sawyer taking cover behind a fence post, reminiscent of Tom Arnold hiding behind a street light in True Lies (Which was meant to be a joke, by the way), and then saving Claire (Who did not die when her house exploded), all without getting nary a scratch on him. So...yeah. I know Ben said that the mercs wanted Sawyer to throw Ben out of the house, which is why he was still alive, but come on, I'm not buying it. Just an odd over-the-top action scene that seemed out of character for the show.

-Jack, tired of everyone lying to him (Because they figure if he's going to be an asshole either way, why tell the truth?), gets Dr. McCoy to help interpret some Morse code so that we can find out that Daniel Faraday isn't telling the truth (I know, I'm shocked too). Faraday lets us know that they were never there to rescue the survivors (Shocker #2). So we know why Keamy & Co. were recruited...still trying to figure out what the 4 weirdos are doing there.

-Enough about everyone else, let's talk about Ben. First, I hope everyone is okay with the idea that Ben's a good guy. As I said, this show has moved past the survivors, where Ben was a bad guy. It's now about the island, and in that story, Widmore is the bad guy, Linus is the good guy. Yes, Ben is creepy, deceptive, manipulative, and dangerous. He also cares about the integrity of the island, and will do whatever it takes to protect it, and that makes him the good guy.

-So, Ben can time travel. Neat. He also seems to be able to go to "arrive" at different places in the world. Again, going under the assumption that this theory is some semblance of the truth, it certainly seems feasible for Ben to be able to do these things. It would also explain the Dharma polar bar in the Tunisian Desert. Now, how he goes about doing these things remains to be seen, but the key thing right now is that he can. Also, depending on what his options are as far as traveling through time goes, it would certainly explain his seemingly endless wealth. It would also explain why a greedy millionaire like Charles Widmore might be so interested in Ben's island.

-Didn't take much to recruit Sayid, did it? I don't know how strongly I should feel about this, but my initial impressions are that Ben could have easily hired this guy to kill Sayid's wife, all so he could ultimately recruit Sayid to help him. What motivation does Widmore have to kill his wife? Anyways, nothing to base that on but speculation, just something that made sense to me.

-We get our first Ben vs. Charles showdown in the episode, which appears to be their first face-to-face meeting ever, and I doubt will be their last. Ben "can't" kill Charles for some reason, he mostly seems to be there to let him know that he's pissed about Keamy killing Alex, and he's going to kill Penny in a turn of sweet revenge. I thought the show did a great job of making you feel the magnitude of this scene. Reminds me of Carnivale (*tear*), when Ben and Brother Justin had their first (and sadly, only) encounter. It just 'felt' big. That's how this felt.

-Then of course there is the smoke monster. We discover that Ben has some ability to control the smoke monster, although we don't know to what extent. When he left to summon the monster, he definitely came back looking noticeably disheveled and dirtier, which is odd. So the smoke monster is still a big mystery, but at least we have been given our first clue as to its operation. Also makes sense why we haven't seen it for a while.

I think that's it for this week. Next week's preview looked beyond lame, with a big "Oh no Jack is sick and dying" teaser. I really hope that doesn't take up too much of the episode, because it really does look awful. Especially since I know there's no chance of him dying.

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Poker - Getting back into the swing of things]]>My Internet, despite previous reports to the contrary, has been noticeably better as of late. It's still not perfect, but my disconnects are infrequent enough that I have been able to partake in the occasional poker playing.

Before my internet issues began, my bankroll had taken a pretty significant hit. Mostly due to poor cash play on my part, and it was also a low point for me from a variance perspective in a lot of the MTT/S&G tournaments I was playing. Once I ran into internet issues, me being blinded out of tournaments coupled with the tilted attitude I would frequently develop from my frustrations really dropped my bankroll to next-to-nothing.

Now that we are past that, I have an opportunity to sort of start over. It's frustrating from a money standpoint, because I would like to be making more money at the moment than I am, but at the same time, it's good for my patience level, and will ultimately result in me playing better. Something I was having some real issues with at the beginning of the year, mostly at the cash tables but really everywhere, was my lack of patience. I knew what I needed to do, but I didn't always exhibit the patience and control to execute properly.

So like I said, I'm starting over. I'm hitting the 25NL tables and keeping my S&G buy-ins to around $5 for the most part. I've actually had a strong desire to sit down at the cash games a lot and see what happens, which is definitely different from my normal MTT-first mindset. Part of this is probably because how ridiculous the play at 25NL is, but part of it is that my MTT-game right now is very rusty, and I need more of a bankroll before I'll really feel comfortable jumping head-on into it.

I've got a few goals to focus on at the moment. One is to get in a good number of hands at 25NL and maintain a high enough ptbb/100 that I feel confident enough about moving up to 50NL. I don't think this will be an issue, I just need to get the hands in, since I'm not enough of a degenerate to consider working all weekend and only fitting in about 7 hours to play poker a "small" amount. I would like to try and be more consistent about playing for about 60-90 minutes a day, not much, but enough to get in a couple hundred hands or so.

My other goal is to figure out how to play these damn turbo S&Gs. It drives me nuts to no end that I can do fine at regular S&Gs, but the Turbos just kick my ass constantly. I think I played about 8 or so of the $6 turbos for a profit of about -$8. A couple I was bounced from overplaying my hand, which is really something I need to do a better job with. I need to find the balance between being aggressive because of the structure of the tournament, and not overplaying my hand because I feel rushed. I think I'm getting to a better place to be able to handle these, but I'm going to keep at it and see if I can improve my results.

So that's kind of where I'm at right now; just hanging out in the low stakes area of Full Tilt, rebuilding my bankroll and getting back in touch with my game. Maybe after May is over and we've closed on our place and moved in and are all settled down I can really put some more focus on poker. Well, if I'm not still playing GTA IV all the time. Damn video games.

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Poker - Can you fold here?]]>Some backstory on the villain, this guy was awful, and I made a note early on that I would have to take advantage of his donkery. Looking at some PT stats, this guy had a VP$IP of 68%, and a PFR of 21%, so needless to say, he was playing most hands. I doubled up against him earlier when I flopped TP, rivered a straight as he rivered two pair.

Honestly, based on what I had seen, I gave the guy no credit for any kind of hand. I thought some kind of middle pair was likely, maybe a draw of some sort. I just couldn't put him on . I mean, honestly, how can you?

I eventually doubled through him again when he decided to play and got in all-in on the flop against my Jacks on a 9-high board. He's so goot.

I thought it was pretty obvious that there was an overpair out there. The flush draw also makes some sense, although the bet out on the turn after getting raised on the flop seems stupid and basically forces him to call after the two pushes. Not to mention how awesome is. I checked the flop since it most likely didn't hit anyone and I wanted to keep everyone in the hand, but I guess it didn't really matter.

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Poker - Some AK hands]]>So I've been able to play a little poker over the weekend, the first serious poker I've played in probably a couple months. Just playing some 25NL to get my rhythm back, and I ran into an interesting hand with AK, and since that particular hand has been discussed at length recently, I figured I'd get in on some of that too.

So here's decision #1. We've got a new player in LP, so I make my standard 4bb raise, and face a re-raise from the SB. I was pretty close to just laying down the hand, to be honest. I figure his range is JJ-AA and AK (This is 25NL after all). I end up making the call, knowing I have to be cautious about what hits on the flop.

*** FLOP *** []
ReechX has 15 seconds left to act
ReechX bets $6

Pretty good flop for me, I thought. I doubt he has 10 10, so I'm behind AA and KK and ahead of QQ and JJ and tied with AK. I am curious to know what people think of my opponent's flop bet, because it would certainly appear that I misread it. He bet $6 into a $12 pot, which seemed a little weak to me. It made me think he was betting out with QQ or JJ, sort of c-betting. I thought if he had AA he would be more likely to check-raise me or bet more on the flop. I guess I had considered KK, but with one in my hand and one on the flop, it didn't seem to likely. So I pushed.

Mike_Maloney has 15 seconds left to act
Mike_Maloneyraises to $19.75, and is all inphrunky83 folds
ReechX calls $13.75
Mike_Maloney shows []
ReechX shows [ Kc]
*** TURN *** [] []
*** RIVER *** [] []
Mike_Maloney shows a pair of Kings
ReechX shows three of a kind, Kings
ReechX wins the pot ($52.05) with three of a kind, Kings
Mike_Maloney is sitting out

Was this a big mistake? If so, where was my mistake? Should I have just folded preflop? Was my postflop analysis wrong? Should I have been more cautious with taking TPTK to the felt? It seems a little over aggressive on my part, but I'm not sure. I'd appreciate anyone's comments on the hand.

This week wasn't exactly like that, but it was along the lines of "The Other 48 Days" where we have a character who has existed for the past season whose whereabouts have been previously unknown, and now we get to spend some time getting caught up to speed.

-Obviously hindsight is 20/20, but you have to love Sayid busting Michael to the captain because he's working for Ben. Oh Sayid, if only you knew...

-This island is quite the interesting entity. Last season we saw Jack contemplating suicide now that he's off the island, and he wants to go back. Now we have Michael, off the island, with his son, everything he wanted, and we see him also at the point of committing suicide. Hurley thinks they should go back to the island, Sayid is working for Ben to (seemingly) protect the secret of the island. It sure seems to me like maybe the island's not such a bad place to be at after all.

-Along those lines, I find myself starting to really become sympathetic towards Ben's cause. Sure, the guy's a bit of a mass murderer, and he isn't the most lenient person I've ever see when it comes to dealing with punishing those who have wronged him, but still, I can't help but feel that he's right about everything that's going on with this ship and Charles Widmore. Ben is a master of survival, and while I think his actions help himself survive most of the time, I also think he cares about the island and his actions are also with the intention of saving it as well. I guess the real question would be where do the survivors fit into his plans? How willing is he to kill the survivors in order to save the island if it came down to that? Hopefully we don't have to find out.

-Last piece about the island: Tom's statement to Michael about the island not letting him kill himself...interesting. We have some other evidence that what Tom says is true; obviously there is Michael trying unsuccessfully to kill himself twice, once by crashing his car, once by putting a loaded gun to his head and pulling the trigger. The first, okay, I could see how that might not work, but the second? The gun just happened to jam when he pulled the trigger, and when he went back to do it a second time, news about Oceanic 815 just happened to show up on the TV in order to distract Michael? Plus, what about Jack? He was getting ready to go all George Bailey on us, did the island pull a Clarence and cause the car crash to save Jack's life because it wasn't his time? We know Locke and Eko have expressed the desires of the island before, and you can't help but wonder if that's how Jacob directs Ben, as well, based on what 'the island' wants.

-I was hoping to find out how Michael was rescued. That boat doesn't have much of a range on it, so that means he was picked up by someone. I suppose it's safe to assume that the bearing Ben led him to resulted in him getting picked up by some of the Others, I doubt he could have been picked up by anyone else and been able to stay hidden. I wonder if we'll ever see Walt again, or be able to learn more of his story. I hope so, he always was an interesting character.

-Ben says the people on the boat are more dangerous than he is. I don't believe that for a second. The people on the boat might be the bad guys, but I don't know if it's possible for anyone to be more dangerous than Benjamin Linus.

-When Karl, Alex, and Rousseau were heading towards the Temple and stopped for water, I made a comment about how funny it would be if the big death this week was Karl...then he died about 20 seconds later. Then I started laughing before I said Rousseau was probably going to die too...then she did. I rule. Honestly, though, it would have been much funnier if it was only Karl that died, just so everyone watching the show could feel completely ripped off. Rousseau isn't the most significant of deaths, but she has been on the show since the beginning, so you still have to consider it pretty major. I didn't see it coming, but it does make sense, since her major obstacle as a character was seeing her daughter again, which she was able to do.

-An item that's currently up for debate, obviously, is who killed them? My initial thought was that this was all a setup by Ben. As I said before, he certainly won't hesitate to have someone killed if it furthers his agenda. It makes perfect sense for him to off Karl, who's a traitor in his eyes (not to mention he's dating his daughter), and Rousseau probably isn't someone who trusts Ben all that much, plus she means to take Alex with her, which Ben probably doesn't want.

That being said, after an alternative theory was mentioned, and I gave it some thought, I actually like the idea that it's people from the freighter instead. While I have no idea how they would just happen to be in the right place at the right time to catch the three of them, we know they seem to have plenty of guns, and Ben hinted at Alex's importance earlier when he mentioned that if they captured her they could use her to get to Ben. Certainly sounds like proper motivation to me.

So, as we head in to a 5-week break (boo), some of our big questions are

-What's going to happen to Alex?
-What's going to happen to Michael now that Sayid has outted him to the captain?
-Is the captain's crew going to survive much longer?
-Is Ben going to pony up the $3.2 million for Miles?
-How exactly does the Oceanic Six get off the island (To be determined after the break)

Some things I'm curious to know is what does the survivors getting off the island mean to the credibility of the staged wreckage of Oceanic 815, as well as if it is in fact Widmore who staged the crash (The file Tom had on him was pretty comprehensive, so that has to be the most credible option at the moment). Guess we'll find out later. Stupid break.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=223
Entertainment - LOST 4.7 Thoughts]]>-The list of the Oceanic Six is out, and it looks like it's Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Aaron, and Sun. Now, that doesn't mean that there aren't other people from the island who get off of it, and it really doesn't even mean that there aren't other survivors that get off the island, it just means the public doesn't know about them.

-Sun is the last member of the Six, although the flashforwards confused the hell out of me. We see Sun is pregnant, and goes into labor. Meanwhile we see Jin rushing around trying to get a big stuffed panda bear so he can get to the hospital. It seemed like a bit of a swerve at the end when it turned out Jin was at the hospital to deliver the panda to a potential business partner (And was he in China?), but it didn't really seem like Jin was aware that Sun was in labor during his scenes, so I wasn't too surprised when he showed up somewhere else.

But...that's obviously not the big story here. Sun has her baby (Which I'm happy about, I was a little worried that she might die because she conceived on the island, so that it might not matter where she went after that, she would die anyways), and Hurley shows up at her place later, so they can go see Jin. At the cemetery. Whoops. Didn't see that one coming.

So that brings up a couple significant issues:

1. The date of death on Jin's tombstone is 9/22/04, aka the day of the plane crash. So, in the grand scheme of things, the lie from the survivors is that only 8 survived the crash and 6 made it out alive, clearly Jin was not counted among the 8.

2. Is Jin really dead? Were we not also watching a flashforward of Jin? It couldn't have been a flashback. He said he had only been married for two months at the very end of the episode, but we know he works for some auto parts company or something along those lines. Well, when Jin and Sun were married, Jin worked for her father, so whatever time period we're watching Jin in, it's not then. And he seemed to have little trouble throwing around money, so it really couldn't have been any time before he met Sun. Therefore it seems like it pretty much has to be in the future. But what does that mean? It would seem that the general public does not know that Jin is alive. Does Sun know? Is Jin working undercover? Could this possibly have something to do with Ben? Does he have another employee? Very mysterious stuff that I'm sure we'll get more pieces to down the road.

(EDIT: In discussing with other people, they seem to be under the assumption that the clips of Jin were a flashback, not a flashforward. It seems very bait-and-switch to me if that's the case, kind of a cheap swerve from the writers. I hope that's not the case, because it was incredibly pointless to include if it was. They could have made Jin dying a surprise just as well with Sun constantly asking for Jin like she did.)

-I think Jin would have felt better about the whole "Sun cheated on you" bit if he had known it was the same guy he threw out of a window. Man, Juliet can be an ice cold bitch when she wants.

-My big 'WTF' moment on the show was when Desmond and Sayid met with the Captain. He talked about Mr. Widmore, how it's his boat, how he funded a salvage operation to recover the flight data recorder from the plane, etc. But here's the big one for me...he talked about how the crash was obviously staged, and wondered where someone like Ben would get 300 dead bodies to stage something like that.

Ben? How did I not think of that before? I've been operating under the assumption that Widmore staged this whole thing, because he has the resources, and it would allow him to focus on finding the island without people worry about what happened to flight 815, etc. But Ben? That actually makes a lot more sense when I think about it, because Ben has more to gain from faking the crash. He wants the island kept a secret, if people find the crash, then that case can be closed and the danger of the island being found/exposed lowers dramatically.

That being said, there is some serious money involved in putting something like that together. And there's the question that the captain asked: Where do you find 300 dead bodies to stick at the bottom of the ocean?

-Michael's the spy on the boat after all. In retrospect, now that we know the plane crash wasn't Widmore's idea, it seems a little more plausible that someone like Michael could work undercover without being discovered.

If Michael's working for Ben, it makes you wonder if this was Ben's plan all along when he let he and Walt go. I can only assume Ben is in control of Walt, which is why Michael is doing what he's doing. God knows he's not doing to try and save the other survivors, it's not really how he rolls. Did he open the sickbay door? Did he give Sayid and Desmond the note about not trusting the captain? Initial guesses would be yes, but you never know with this show.

-Where'd Frank go? Back to the island I assume (Where the hell else is he going to go?), but did he go by himself?

-So first we have this chick reading a book upside down, next scene she has a bunch of chains wrapped around her and she jumps off the side of the boat and kills herself. Doesn't really seem like the same symptoms as the time distortion Desmond encountered, does it? What's her story?

-Speaking of people dying, what's with the big blood stain on the wall of the room where Sayid and Desmond are staying? Looks like a shotgun blast through the back of the head if I had to guess. Definitely more going on aboard this ship than we know.

Next week I believe is our semi-finale before the break (*tear*), but at least it's only for a few weeks. ABC tells us someone's gonna die, so now we get to play the guessing game of who it is. We can already rule out the Six, plus Ben. Claire has to be a prime suspect, since Kate has to gain possession of the baby some how, and what better way than to have Claire die and Sawyer, Hurley and Locke standing around awkwardly trying to figure out what to do with the baby before dropping it off in front of Kate's tent, ringing the doorbell and then running away. Sawyer's another good candidate, because we know he's not one of the Six, and ever since he killed Locke's dad (You know, the one driving goal he had in his life) I've always worried about his longevity. Along those lines I worry about Desmond's future as well after his big reunion he had with Penny (Although I'm not as worried about him because I feel like there is still some unresolved business with Widmore). Michael's certainly a possibility, considering most of the survivors probably wouldn't mind seeing him dead, and Sayid has easy access to him. Not to mention the crew that's going to be very pissed off if/when they find out that Michael's a spy.

I think it's going to be one of those four. Claire's gotta be the frontrunner, but any of the other three would make sense as well. Or maybe Miles will finally drop that grenade and blow himself up.

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Entertainment - LOST 4.6 Thoughts]]>-I like flashback episodes when they are productive and give us something to work with. As I've mentioned about Season 2, some of the flashbacks for characters the second time around ended up being mostly worthless and did nothing to progress the story of the character or the show (See: Hurley and the skinny kid from Road Trip showing us that Hurley doesn't like change, or Rose and Bernard using up an entire episode to tell us that Rose has cancer and the island has cured it, like they couldn't have just done that in five minutes). The flash-forwards are a good change of pace, and open up a whole new avenue that we knew nothing about. However, variety is the spice of life (Or so "they" say), and there are currently a number of characters on the show (Juliette, Ben, the freighter people) that we know little-to-nothing about as far as their backstory goes, which means flashback episodes are in order.

The Juliette story was helpful, because while we know how she got to the island, we don't know a whole lot about her on the island, outside of not doing a good job of preventing pregnant women from dying (ouch, harsh). One of the things LOST loves to do, and I enjoy watching, is recapping something that happened in the past from a different view. Here, we were able to get a little bit more information about what the Others did after the crash. We already knew that Ben immediately sent Goodwin and Ethan out to spy, but now we learned that Ben sent Goodwin out on purpose so that he would stay away from his woman (I don't think killing him was his initial intention, but something he realized was an option later on). It makes me wonder if Ethan did something to draw Ben's ire as well (He did seem to be their only doctor/surgeon, right?).

-Not that Jack needs much more of a reason to hate Ben, but Juliette getting in the middle of the two of them could make for an interesting confrontation down the road. Ben is normally a pretty level-headed calculating guy, but introducing someone like Juliette in to the equation might get him a little off his keel.

-Who does Juliette look just like? Was Ben involved with someone who got pregnant and died? Is that his motivation for bringing Juliette to the island?

-Just as a bit of storyline continuity (Because I love shows that make a point of something and then reinforce that seasons later), Ben told Juliette that Goodwin was staying with the tail section because he thought Ana Lucia might be a good person to bring on. Now, since you never know with Ben, you'd be likely to pass this off as a lie, and it very well could be. However, something to keep in mind, when Ben was captured in Season 2 and was talking to Ana Lucia, he mentioned to her that Goodwin wanted her to join the Others, and about how he was wrong about her. Again, it could still be a lie, but if it is, Ben's pretty consistent about the whole thing. Thought that was neat.

-Juliette's therapist: Was she really there? Or was this some incarnation of Jacob or the smoke monster? Ben clearly had something to do with this, because Juliette was right, he knew how to get to her, she was going to kill Faraday and Lewis thinking they were trying to kill everyone instead of save them. But how does Ben have the ability to do that?

-Kate's a psycho. You know when Jack is acting more rationally than you are (Jack: I'll take their word for it) then you have problems.

-Juliette's pretty hot. This isn't exactly news, just thought it was worth mentioning.

-I love that Jack is being is usual spastic self about Faraday and Lewis taking off in the middle of the night, and Jin comes through as the voice of reason about how they're supposed to be 'friends'. Eat it, Jack.

-Alright, so Charles Widmore has officially been revealed as the person in charge of this 'expedition' by our four freighter friends. How much does he know about the island? He clearly knows about the power station and its capabilities, he even had some kind of a crude map for Faraday to follow. What is his ultimate plan for Ben?

-Speaking of Ben, I think his reveal of Widmore was said in truth. However, I don't believe for a second that it was his 'only' barganing chip against Locke. I'm not sure I believe that Widmore's sole interest in this island is exploitation. It certainly could be, he's very clearly a money-driven individual, but the whole power station incident makes it seem like he knows a hell of a lot about the island. Maybe there is some ulterior motive going on there. I still want to know how he picked the four (Well, five including Naomi) people to go on this mission to the island.

-Is Locke ever going to smarten up and stop letting Ben completely screw him over? Ben did nothing but play mind games with Locke when he was first captured back in the hatch, and all he's doing now is playing more mind games, and Locke's just eating it all up. Any time Ben can sense he's losing Locke's interest he just slips him a little bit of vague information or answers one of his questions, and Locke just keeps following him around like a little puppy. Now he's managed to bargain his way out of captivity by giving Locke some information along with convincing him that his people have no interest in him any longer. It just amazes me that Locke is so desperate to know more about this island, basically to be what Ben is, that he constantly lets Ben get the best of him. Of course, as we've seen with his father, that tends to be one of his weaknesses.

-Any guesses on who Ben's man on the boat is? People say Michael, but I don't think that works. Michael was on the plane, I'd be willing to bet he's too recognizable. If the ship really did come from Widmore, and if Widmore faked the plane crash (Certainly seems feasible considering his motives and resources), then putting a survivor on the ship as a spy doesn't seem very discreet. It certainly appears to be someone we are already familiar with, and possibly someone Locke is familiar with. An older Walt? I know Walt was a survivor, but who knows what's going on with that kid as far as time goes, and if he is older, he becomes much less recognizable. Christian Shepard? Why not, the guy seems to be intertwined in many stories, and with this show I hardly consider death to be a huge road block. Besides, didn't we already see him walking and talking in the first season, not to mention in Jacob's cabin? Is it that much of a stretch to think he might be alive? An island that can cure cancer and get people to walk again, why can't it bring someone back to life? I honestly have no idea who it is, just throwing some ideas out there.

I think those are all my thoughts for this week. Our final member of the six is showing up this week (See, told you Aaron counted), and I'm actually going to guess it's Locke. I know that doesn't make much sense, since no one wants to stay on the island more than Locke, but I feel like there has to be some significance to these characters getting off the island, and honestly, who cares all that much if Jin or Sun or Rose or Bernard get off the island? They don't play a significant role in the LOST story, so them getting off the island just doesn't seem very interesting. I guess it could be Sawyer, but I'm a little surprised that Sawyer would leave and in two Kate/Jack flash-forwards he hasn't even been a topic of conversation (Well, unless he's in the casket). But who knows, if this show is anything it's unpredictable.

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Poker - Nothing New]]>Needless to say, this has made poker playing absolutely infuriating lately, and as a result, I have wasted pretty much whatever I have had left of a bankroll. I would try and get through tournaments, but it's pretty hard to do when you're constantly disconnecting and sitting out and getting involved in hands that you end up folding because you aren't there to play them. I've only been able to play in the Big Game so far in the BBThree, and that involved me missing probably about 30% of the hands I played, so I literally won no significant hands and the one nice starting hand I did get was AK which I laid down on a K-high board in what was probably a weak fold since I'm playing with a bunch of bloggers. I think my reasoning for folding was sound, but sometimes I give my opponent too much credit for having a hand. Maybe I should post the HH some time, get some thoughts.

So, I'm hoping my internet issues get resolved soon, because I really wanted to dive headfirst into the BBT. In the meantime, don't expect much in the way of poker content from me.

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Poker - BBT3]]>

And the prizes are even more disgusting this time around...Full Tilt is giving away 2 seats to the WSOP Main Event, and 5 more seats to other WSOP events! That's $30k right there. So sick.

The BBThree is even bigger this time around, comprising of 55 blogger events. 55! This should be nuts.

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Entertainment - LOST: Season 2 Revisited (Part 1)]]>-I really liked the title of the season premiere, "Man of Science, Man of Faith". When I initially saw the title, I just went on the assumption that it was about Jack and Locke, since in the season finale Locke went so far as to label them such. And after watching the episode it's still probably that that's who the title was describing. However, the interesting thing is that there were several "Men of Faith" that interacted with Jack in this episode.

First was his father, Christian, for a brief time. Now, I wouldn't go so far as to say Christian Shepard is a man of faith, but he did speak to Jack about the importance of hope when dealing with patients.

Second was Desmond. When Jack first meets Desmond, he speaks of faith and hope in response to Jack's story of Sarah in the hospital. Jack, being a man of science, says it's impossible for Sarah to ever walk again, and that if she were to walk again, it would be a miracle. Desmond, as a man of faith, believes this is a possibility. So, fast forward several years, and here is Desmond, the man of faith, pushing a button every 108 minutes for who knows how long, with no concrete explanation, no absolute knowledge in the consequences of not pushing the button, and really the only thing that continues to drive him is faith.

Third is Locke, who we don't need to go into, but given his faith in the island, his faith in the hatch, his immediate faith in the button, it's very clear that he is indeed a man of faith.

I just thought it was interesting to see Jack having to fight all those characters of faith.

We also managed to see a possible transformation in Jack. Being a man of science, he felt the button-pushing was ludicrous, the explanation ridiculous, and pretty much refused to take part in the whole issue. But there was one thing he couldn't get past, the thing that makes me think perhaps the title of the premiere wasn't about Locke after all: Desmond. Desmond and Jack had met before, in the real world, and not only that, but their previous conversation surrounded around miracles, the impossible, faith and hope. So now, Jack survives a plane crash on a deserted island, finds a hatch within the island, and goes down there to find the very same Desmond in it, pushing a button every 108 minutes to 'save the world'.

He wants to pass the whole button situation off as something stupid and arbitrary, but the science in him can't get past the fact that Desmond is there. Someone that he has actually met before has somehow appeared in this hatch on a deserted island. This causes him to maybe let his guard down just a bit, and come to terms with what the hatch is, so much so that he is actually willing to press the button. I can't remember for sure, but I hope this leads to a little bit more of an open-minded Jack and a little bit less of asshole Jack.

-Just something I've been keeping an eye out ever since my LOST blogger buddy brought it up is the character Sayid. From Goat:

**Contains thoughts from last week's LOST episode**

"Let's also take a moment to appreciate Sayid, probably the most under-rated character on the show. With all the back and forth for leadership between Jack and Locke, I've always wondered why the most resourceful, practical, and sensible person, not to mention the least easily distracted (that's Sayid) hasn't been in charge. This is the episode where I realized that he actually is in charge. He never asks permission for his actions, he always just does what he thinks needs to be done. Alone among the crash survivors, he's the only one who doesn't need leadership, and thus doesn't look for it. He's the guy you most want with you on a mission. He's the professor, and Jack and Locke are just arguing over who has the Gilligan hat and who has the Skipper hat. (Sawyer is Ginger, of course.) He's not the Economist of the title, but he always knows what the math is, and he almost always makes the right play."

It's an excellent point, and something I've decided to keep an eye on as I re-watch these old episodes. He's not always perfect (His incident with Sawyer in the first season springs to mind), but he really is his own man. Jack is the man in charge, Locke is the man who knows things about the island, and everyone else follows, but Sayid is kind of just there, not leading anyone, not following anyone, fairly neutral in what he does unless he has a concrete opinion on it.

-I really liked the way the tail section was introduced. We were swerved and led to believe they were Others for the first few episodes, but I don't even care, because it was a great swerve. The image of Mr. Eko without his shirt on coming at you with a big ass stick in his hands was intense! After Jin ran out of the jungle and Sawyer and Michael look up to see this dark group of figures all holding pointy weapons with Eko leading the way, that's just a great visual. Now, of course the Others don't really look that tough, and really Ben just looks like a geek, but that's not really the point.

-I'll have to revisit this at the end of the season, but I know Season 2 is regarded as fairly weak overall by most LOST viewers. I have that in the back of my head as I watch so that I can try and formulate some ideas as to why that might be. So far, there are a couple things that seem apparent to me:

*The entire tail section save Bernard is either captured or killed by the end of Season 3. What does that mean? It means that most of the characters introduced end up being fairly meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Ana Lucia serves as a sympathetic death given the way that she was killed, but other than that, what purpose did her character serve as far as the LOST story goes? None, really. Libby was an interesting character, and seemed to have some kind of a backstory with Hurley at the mental hospital, and Desmond with the boat, but neither of those two stories went anywhere, and unless they do somewhere down the road, she too is a wasted character. Bernard is still alive, but not worthwhile enough to really matter. The important part of the couple is Rose, who had cancer but is now in remission on the island. Mr. Eko was along the lines of Libby, very interesting backstory, and a seemingly deeper understanding of the island, kind of like Locke, only he died fairly abruptly, and so his story, along with the story of the beachcraft that his brother was in, faded away. So in the end, you are left with a number of flashbacks, and a number of episodes dedicated to these people that ultimately end up dead and insignificant.

*A lot of flashbacks in the first season really gave us some insight into the history of the characters on the island. We learned about where they come from, what brought them here, and sometimes, how they knew each other previously. Knowing all that, the flashbacks in the second season so far don't seem to have that same 'source of important information' feel to them. Everyone Hates Hugo spent most of the episode with Hurley trying to figure out what to do with the food, and his flashbacks were nothing but him keeping his lottery ticket a secret from his family and friends, because he doesn't like change. Okay, we get it. Don't need to spend an entire episode focusing on that. The episode with Locke, where he dates Peg Bundy and has issues with staying away from his father's house, that didn't tell us anything new about Locke. We know he has abandonment issues and that he can't stop thinking about his father used him, we don't need to spend an entire episode of flashbacks on it. Basically, the flashbacks that were new and interesting in Season 1 turned into flashbacks that just rehashed and reinforced what we already knew about the characters in Season 2.

-I had forgotten what a crazy psychobitch Ana Lucia is. I remember that she was a pretty hatable character right off the bat, and over time she warmed up to everyone else and you saw a likable side to her, and then of course she died. But man, when she kills Shannon, she really goes off the deep end. First she knocks out Sayid while he's fighting with Eko, then takes his gun, and starts pointing it at everyone, including the other members of the tail section. Then she decides that no one can leave, and that they have to tie Sayid up, instead of continuing on to their camp. She contemplates killing Sayid, because killing him on purpose would certainly be much more understandable to all the other survivors than the fact that she killed Shannon on accident. Finally, she comes up with her grand plan: She'll let Sayid go in return for supplies so that she can go off and survive on the island by herself. I swear, if Eko wasn't around that whole group would have been dead by now.

Speaking of Eko, I can't get over their relationship. She's the dictator in charge, and she certainly leads by force. Eko is the passive guy behind the scenes, who lets her do what she wants, until she goes too far. Then he speaks up, and she pretty much always does what he says.

-Eko's first interaction with Jack is priceless. First Jack has this complete look of bewilderment on his face when Eko comes rumbling through the jungle with Sawyer over his back. Then, back in the hatch, Jack goes through his normal 'flipping out when angry' routine because Sayid is being held captive and Shannon is dead, instead of acting in a normal, rational manner, and Eko won't talk to him because "Anything I say will only make you more upset". See Jack, guy's known you for five minutes and he already knows how you tick.

-How the hell is Kate a better golfer than a doctor? I can't possibly think of how this would make sense.

That's all for now. I've made it through the first third of the season. Pretty good so far, but definitely a slower pace. I'm mostly just biding my time until Ben shows up.

This is a pretty complex LOST theory, but it's nothing short of fascinating, and honestly, the best looking one I've ever read. Pretty neat idea, and I wouldn't be surprised if the truth were somewhere along these lines.

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Entertainment - LOST 4.3 Thoughts]]>-So, we have Jack, Kate, Hurley, and now Sayid as four of the Oceanic 6 (I guessed they would reveal Sayid this week by the way, whoo!). I loved Sayid's flash forwards, because the idea of him as a hitman was something I had a hard time believing. Granted, Sayid is certainly capable of killing people, but it's not something he willingly goes out of his way to do, so it's certainly not a profession I would expect him to jump into after the plane crash.

The first guy he killed was clearly concerned once Sayid identified himself as a crash survivor, although I didn't really think much of it at the time. The woman that he then killed was interesting, because he spent however long setting her up so that he could (presumably) kill her boss, but it turns out she was expecting it the whole time and almost killed him in the process. I was really looking forward to seeing who her boss was, but I guess that will be revealed at a later date.

That being said, Ben being revealed as Sayid's boss just blew me away. It was a cool reveal, too, letting you hear his voice and make the realization before seeing him. It also helps explain why Sayid is doing what he's doing. It appears that he is killing people that I assume are associated with the boat. Ben says something about Sayid protecting his friends or the others or something, makes me wonder if he's talking about the other Oceanic 6, or if he's talking about everyone on the island. Certainly a very interesting situation, and I'll definitely be looking to some more Sayid flash forwards.

-Speaking of Ben, certainly looks like what he tells the truth about and what he lies about is even more fuzzy than before. When we first met Ben, he claimed to be a guy that found the island after he crashed his hot air balloon. Obviously that was true and he was identified as one of the Others. Then he told us that he was born on the island, and that he had never left it. Well, as we saw from Ben's flashback, he wasn't born on the island, he came to the island when he was about twelve. And from last night's episode, it would appear that he not only has left the island before, but actually seems to travel a lot. This would help explain the picture Miles has of him, because the picture doesn't look like it was taken on the island, and even if it was, how did he obtain it?

The suits, the passports, the money, what does it all mean? It has to explain why these people are after Ben, doesn't it? What is this secret other life that Ben has? I thought that was a HUGE new story to introduce.

-I'm glad Desmond's getting some more screen time. He's a great character, but didn't have much to do last season aside from tell Charlie how he's going to die.

-Very cool, surreal scene with Sayid and the helicopter leaving the island.

-Awesome set up by Hurley to trap Sayid. It's funny, when they untied Hurley and he was stumbling around his words, I was thinking that it was a great idea to leave him, since he wouldn't really be all that useful in giving helpful information.

-I wonder why they made Kate stay at the barracks. Locke didn't really seem to have any interest in the other group, he really only wanted to keep Charlotte for collateral purposes, so I don't see why Kate didn't come back. Sayid said she decided to stay, but that's obviously not true. Maybe she just thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of the opportunity to have sex with Sawyer on an actual bed, probably an upgrade from a cage.

-It took me a little while at first, but once Locke started talking to Sayid I realized Sayid's plan to exchange Charlotte for Miles. I had remembered thinking it was a little odd how explicit Sayid was about setting up a deal with the pilot if he brought back Charlotte, then it all kind of fell into place.

-So Faraday has someone on the boat shoot over a rocket with a stopwatch or some kind of a clock in it, and in some bizarre Back to the Future moment he compares the clock with his watch and realizes the rocket arrived a half hour after it was supposed to land after being shot off from the boat. What the hell was that about? There has been discussion about some kind of effect on time with the island, and we've seen some suspect examples, like Richard not aging over the past twenty or thirty years, possibly Walt's age increase, and now a blatant and real disruption of time involving this rocket. However, the fact that Charlie was able to communicate with Penny in real time, the fact that Mikhail was able to keep up with the outside world in real time, and the fact that the conversations on the sat phones could take place in real time all seem to contradict those time issues, at least from an electronics standpoint.

-One last thing: what's Sayid's fascination with Naomi? He took her bracelet, insisted her body go on the helicopter back to the ship, but it doesn't seem like he's going about it in a caring way, it's like he suspects something, or knows something about her that we don't. I mean, it could be nothing and I could just be looking into it too much, but I got an odd vibe the way he was going about all of that.

We're getting the fifth of six next week, and I can't really think of who it might be. I still don't think Michael is one of them, I don't want to suggest Jin or Sun unless they both get off the island because I hate that idea, Locke leaving doesn't make sense. I'm still kind of up in the air about Sawyer, it seems like the whole thing with Kate makes it too obvious to be Sawyer, plus he seems to want to stay. It could be Claire, but her character's main purpose was Aaron anyways, I don't know how much use she would have post-island. I don't think Rose and Bernard are big enough characters. I think that's everyone. They could throw us for a swerve and re-introduce one of the survivors who was captured. That would be interesting. So, I guess for lack of a better option I'll go with Claire, but I really have no idea who the last two will be.

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Entertainment - LOST : Season 1 Revisited (Part 2)]]>Upon re-watching the whole Ethan Rom angle, I thought it held up pretty well and was a great introduction to The Others. Creepy, very dangerous, with some mysterious ulterior motives that leaves the audience baffled. The one thing I wasn't really a fan of was when Ethan came back for Claire. So, Ethan tells Charlie that Claire has to be alone and he will take her, otherwise people will die, etc. But...doesn't it seem kind of dumb on Ethan's part to actually show up by himself, completely unarmed? Is he actually expecting Claire to be there by herself? It just seems like a blatant setup for Ethan, and he's come across as a very intelligent villain so far, so I don't like the blatant character misstep. But that's a pretty minor thing overall.

So I ranted a bit last time about what a worthless character Boone was and how it was pretty obvious that if anyone needed to die, it was him. His only foil on the show was Shannon, and Shannon ended up finding Sayid. So he assumed the role of Locke's lackey, really contributing nothing to the show and just acting as an extension of John, and ultimately, a sacrifice. Really, Boone's greatest contribution was the rift he created between Locke and Jack when Jack was unable to properly treat Boone (He would have died anyways, but whatever) because Locke disappeared right after the accident. Oh, sorry, he "lied" about what happened to Boone (Not really, he did fall off a cliff, he just neglected to mention that he was in an airplane when it happened). But I'll refrain on that for now, I have a big Jack rant saved up for later.

I love the idea of the hatch. The discovery and subsequent excavation just led to a great "wtf" moment for the show (Because they don't have enough of those). It also was a good opportunity for some character development for Locke, as we learned a little bit more about his connection with the island. But I think my favorite part of it is how completely baffled everyone is when they come in contact with it. Sayid and Jack don't know what to do with it, hell, even Rousseau, who's been on the island for sixteen years, A. has no idea what it is, and B. looks totally perplexed when she sees it. I mean, I would have to imagine that after all this time it would take quite a bit for her to get surprised by anything. Also, great end to the first season with Jack and Locke staring, bewildered, down the open hatch after they just blew it open with dynamite.

Switching gears, I can't get over how much of an asshole Michael was for the first half or two thirds of the season. He has his moments, helping get Jack out of the caves, the idea about creating showers, etc., but man, that guy is as stubborn as anyone, and if you do anything that he disagrees with, he will be all up in your face about it, and god forbid he actually listen to what anyone else has to say. Remember how I said no one ever even gave Sawyer a chance? That's pretty much how Michael is with everyone, particularly Locke. Although they did have a bit of a reconciliation when Locke helped him save Walt from the gigantic polar bear. That's polar bear #2, by the way.

The funny thing is that the thing that ended up really calming Michael down, was Jin. Jin, who has been public enemy #1 in Michael's eyes since, oh, like the third or fourth episode of the season. Michael was convinced that Jin burned down the first version of the raft, which led to Sun revealing to everyone that she speaks English. In an interesting chain of events, this led to Jin separating himself from Sun, effectively isolating himself from everyone, and eventually, to him helping Michael build the new raft. For whatever reason, the two formed quite a team, working well together, and eventually building a bit of a friendship. Michael was noticeably less of a jackass for the remainder of the season, although he still had his moments with Sawyer (Shocker!).

Speaking of Michael, I had forgot what an awesome character Walt is. Season 2, the only time we see him is briefly at The Others' "camp", and the rest he appears in the woods briefly speaking backwards or whatever. Then he leaves, and I think we see him all of twice during all of Season 3. During that time, you tend to forget about the things that make him special. Of course there's the bird that flies into a window and dies while he's reading about birds, because his parents won't listen to him while he's trying to talk. Then there's the polar bear that manages to show up after Walt was reading Hurley's comic book with the polar bear in it, only Walt got mad after Michael threw the book into the fire. Then he was talking to Locke, and Locke touched his arm, which caused Walt to urgently tell John not to open the hatch, which of course Walt didn't even know anything about. He's just a really fascinating person, and honestly, I hope that he comes back and has a significant role on the show.

So, something I've come to realize is how unlikable Jack is. I talked a bit about Michael's stubbornness, well, Jack's got it in spades. He is a man very set in his beliefs, and it takes a hell of a lot of him to change his views on anything. This results in very unfriendly interactions with those that don't share the same views as him (Sawyer, Locke, Kate on occasion...but she gets a pass because Jack wants to see her naked). When I talked about the treatment Sawyer receives from people, it all begins with Jack and his attitude. Then later, after the whole Boone incident, Jack goes off the handle angry at Locke, and it has a ripple effect on everyone else. And it doesn't really matter whether Jack is right or wrong, he's just so dead set in his ways that there's no other way around it. The situation with Boone was a perfect example. I mean, really, Boone was going to die. His leg was screwed, his lung collapsed, he lost a ton of blood, not to mention he was on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, as opposed to a hospital. But because Jack is such a control freak, and because he has to fix everything and everyone that he can, when he fails, beware his wrath. He goes so far as to call Locke a murderer. The funny thing about his hatred for Locke is how similar the two are in many aspects. I love the parallel they pulled with Locke on several occasions yelling at people not to tell him what he can't do, only to have Jack bust out the exact same line later on. I mean, I'm glad Jack is there, because he is a doctor, and his knowledge and abilities are great to have. However, he often times is a stubborn asshole who ends up picking fights with people unnecessarily and does what he says, despite it probably being a good idea to listen to what others have to say. I'd like to think it gets better as the show goes on, but we all know that's not true.

Okay, this is starting to get long-winded, just a few more points I wanted to make:

-I've been looking forward to seeing Arzt explode pretty much since I started watching the season. Honestly, next to the meteor blowing up Hurley's chicken restaurant and the reporter in front of it, this scene is the funniest damn thing this show has done. It's just so over-the-top shocking that it is completely hilarious. I freakin' love it.

-I want more of the smoke monster. I want to know who controls it, where it came from, what it does, the works. That thing was a tour-de-force in the first season, and I want more.

-I thought the numbers were great, but honestly, I don't see why everyone thinks they should have some ultimate meaning. They keep showing up because the overall theme in the show is about how many different things are related to each other. The numbers were technically explained as part of the Valenzetti equation, so really I don't know what else people are looking for. I do like how they tied into things in Season 1, and it'd be fun to see them pop up from time to time, but really, what else do people want?

-There were some amazingly touching moments during the finale. First was a shirtless Sawyer and a teary-eyed Jack. Honestly though, it was a great moment with Sawyer telling Jack of his encounter with his father, and what Christian had to say about Jack. I'm sure it helped their relationship in the future, but it was just nice to see them connect on that personal level. The other moment was Jin and Sun reconciling. What a tear-jerking scene. Jin and Sun have always been my favorite characters, and I just thought the whole dialog between them was amazing.

I think that's all I've got. I'm going to try and split my thoughts up evenly for next season, it got too hard to try and remember the little things I wanted to talk about after 16 episodes. I'll probably try and start Season 2 later this week. I'm excited for this week's episode, along with news that the writer's strike is over and we may end up getting a total of 13 episodes this season instead of just the 8 that have been filmed so far! Whoo!

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Entertainment - Lost 4.2 Thoughts]]>On a side note, I have three more hours (2 episodes) left in Season 1, so I'm hoping to finish that up this weekend or early next week and then post some more observations.

But, back to the topic at hand, the start to Season 4. LOST is back to doing what it does best, coming up with new ways to confuse the hell out of you and get you to stare dumbly at the TV screen. We've got four new characters on the show, and they brought with them a whole lot of questions for the viewers.

-First off, who the hell are these people? I had read that Season 4 was going to feature both flash forwards and flashbacks, and I'm really glad they did it that way. The flash forwards are certainly a nice change of pace from three seasons of flashbacks, but I never felt like they should abandon them completely. It was nice to see some brief flashbacks for all four crew members, although we didn't get a ton of answers from them. We do know that they were seemingly recruited by the creepy guy in the black suit who visited Hurley last week. We know that they're not professionally trained for their mission, and that it doesn't appear that they even knew each other before they were assigned to this project.

Daniel Faraday got very emotional when he found out about the wreckage of Flight 815 (more on that later), but we don't know why. Miles is some sort of ghost whisperer, we don't know of any connection to the flight. Charlotte's an interesting case, we saw her track down the skeleton of a polar bear in Tunisia with a Dharma collar(!) next to it. Can't remember the pilot's name off the top of my head, but he claims that he was originally supposed to be the pilot for Flight 815, but wasn't for some reason. So we learn little tidbits about each one, but still no idea on their true purpose, or their motivation for each even being a part of this project.

-Okay, I guess we know a little about their true purpose: they're after Ben. Bet Jack's wishing he hadn't let him go with Locke right about now. Charlotte is currently a semi-captive with Locke's party, the other three are with Jack. All Jack/Kate/Sayid/Juliette know is that Miles has a picture of Ben and that he's why they're there. Locke's party has discovered that Ben, as usual, is just full of all kinds of information, and in this case seems to know every little detail regarding Charlotte's life, including the fact that she is here to find him.

-Ben is an interesting case himself. You can never tell with him when he's lying and when he's telling the truth. He knows a lot about many things, but that doesn't always mean he's going to tell you the truth about them; it really all depends on what the impact of knowing that information means in the big picture. For example, he says the people on the freighter are not who they say they are and they bring danger to the island. Now, while it's true that they're not who they say they are, was Ben saying that to protect the island, or was he saying that to protect himself, since they seem to be there because of him? He did shoot Charlotte after all, who was fortunately wearing a bulletproof vest (Speaking of which, what the hell was that about?), so he must honestly believe they present some danger.

Locke asked him about the smoke monster, Ben said he didn't know what it is. Again, is that the truth, or is it just in his best interest to not tell? And if he really doesn't know what it is, who does? Jacob, perhaps? I just think it's interesting that Ben knows so much, because of Locke's curiosity, it would be pretty tough for John to just kill him.

-Ben said he had a spy on the freighter. Can't help but wonder who that might be. It could just be someone we don't even know, or it could be a recurring character. Michael? Walt? Penny? Jack's dad, just so we can give him another role on the show?

-Touching back on last week's episode, we met a creepy guy in a black suit. He was in one of Hurley's flash forwards after Hurley got himself back into a mental hospital. He claimed to be from Oceanic, but Hurley got a bad vibe from him and got him to leave, but not before the man asked him if they were still alive. Cryptic, and it makes you wonder who "they" are. Now, with this week's episode, we see him in a flashback, with Naomi, going over the four crew members. We still don't know who he's working for, but he seems to indicate to Naomi that there were no survivors from Flight 815. Whether he actually believes that or not I have no idea. However, since this crew was his idea, it makes me wonder if "they" isn't the other survivors as most originally thought, but possibly his crew instead. It also makes me wonder what Hurley and the other "six" aren't telling people. Clearly the man in the black suit knows Hurley is hiding something, Jack even checked on him to make sure he didn't talk.

-I don't want to speculate too much about the "Oceanic 6", because I honestly have no idea who they are all going to be. We don't really even know what that means, although it would be fair to assume that there are only 6 of them that leave the island. It would also seem that the 6 were all from the plane, hence the nickname. So far we've got Jack, Kate, and Hurley, which only leaves three spots for a lot of people that seem to want to get off the island. Kind of depressing to think about, really, and it makes you wonder what happens to the non-plane island inhabitants.

-The plane wreckage was very interesting. One of the big question marks for people (one of many) is how the rest of the world reacted to the plane crash. When Naomi was first introduced last season, we discovered that the public opinion was that the flight crashed, everyone died, and that they saw the wreckage, bodies, etc. Well, last night we saw some video footage of the wreckage, and the body of the pilot. Now as the crew pilot hinted at, the footage he saw of the airplane's pilot's body, he didn't believe that was really the pilot due to a lack of a wedding ring. So this leads to speculation that this is some kind of coverup. But by whom? Oceanic? The creepy guy in the black suit? Why would you fake a plane crash? Why not just say you never found the plane?

-It was nice of Locke to bring up his lack of a kidney saving his life. It was discussed amongst the fans, glad the writers just threw in a brief acknowledgment.

-Yeah, did I mention a Dharma polar bear in fucking Tunisia? Last time I checked, Tunisia was nowhere near the Pacific ocean. Not to mention, it's a skeleton, which would imply it's most likely been there for a while. So...what the hell? How many Dharma polar bears are there anyways? We know Sawyer killed one, another one attacked Walt, the Others used to keep them (or Dharma) in cages, but who knows how many there actually were. This one is just baffling to me.

-I still think it's a little odd that Desmond didn't go with Locke's group. He was the first one to get Charlie's message, but he stuck around anyways. I wonder if it's due to the fact that Naomi had Penny's picture, and is too curious to leave. I also thought some more about what this guy had to say about how he doesn't understand why any of the survivors would ever go with Locke. I said it made sense, considering they were going with him because of Charlie, not because of Locke. On top of that, some people obviously don't trust Locke because of what he's done. But I don't think that includes everyone. Just because we know the whole story with Locke doesn't mean everyone does. Think about it. Sayid, Kate, Jack, all probably feel they have valid reasons to not trust or go with Locke. And none of them did. Hurley, Sawyer, Claire, what reasons do they have not to trust him? Anyways, just something I wanted to touch on.

-Anyone else think that they've been putting Michael's name in the credits the past two weeks just to screw with us? I initially thought he was in the credits last week and didn't appear because he was going to show up this week, and since I think this was originally going to be a two hour episode, etc...But now? I wouldn't put it past JJ Abrams & co. to think it would be hilarious to mess with everyone's heads since we all get way too obsessive with the show as it is to sit there and get us to speculate about the return of Michael, only to not even have him show up. Sneaky bastards if that's why.

-I still can't believe Jack tried to kill Locke last week. What an asshole. Actually, I have some more thoughts on Jack and his often ridiculous behavior, but I'll save that for my Season 1 thoughts.

Well, I think that's all I've got for now. Next week I guess we get to find out the fourth member of the Oceanic 6. Like I said, I don't have a clue who it will be, but just for kicks I'll say Sayid. I almost said Sawyer, but since he's accomplished his big purpose in life, I'm still not convinced he's going to be alive by the time everyone's ready to leave the island.

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Poker - Easy call with middle pair?]]> that I called on the button after three limpers. I'm really not happy with the way the hand played out, but I can't figure out what my play should have been. Here's the hand history:

So, I'd like to think I have some fold equity considering how I've been playing (This was literally my first raise postflop all tourney), but I know I can't assume things like that when playing against the average donkey in this thing.

Does my reraise scream "flush draw"? Is it really the right move from him to feel so confident with his middle pair that he can make that call? I mean, I'd like to think that I can put in a good enough re-raise to get someone to fold a pair of fives. Was the push too desperate? Would a re-raise of say 1900 or 2000 gotten the point across better? Or was it just a stupid call on his part? I just can't wrap my head around this one.

I don't mind my call preflop, but my flop bet was soooooo weak, and I put him on JJ, QQ, or AK when he jammed, but I ended up calling anyways. But thank god I was finally the beneficiary of the runner-runner-broadway straight I see Full Tilt screw people with so many times.

Anyways, I've been putting in some nice sessions at 50NL, playing really tight, focusing on good starting hands, playing in position, betting for value and not being so sneaky and trappy all the time. It's important to stay patient, and to not get in the habit of seeing too many flops. I'm hoping I've bottomed out, and am now on my way back up.

Well, if that doesn't fit the cliche "A picture equals a thousand words" to a T then I don't know what does.

Pretty wild game last night. I was fairly indifferent as to who I wanted to win, I was mostly concerned with my fantasy players doing well. Although, I'm not going to lie, my assessment of Bill Simmons' latest stupidity is looking pretty good right about now.

One thing I did notice during the game was several instances of bad coaching on the part of the Patriots. Now, Bill Belichick is an ass, I don't think there's much denying this. The guy comes across as smug, often condescending, just kind of a jerk overall. The fact that his team gets caught cheating doesn't really help matters. Despite all that, the guy's a pretty good football coach. Great strategist, gets a lot out of his teams, all that. So I was pretty surprised when I found myself noticing plays that just didn't seem like the right call at all.

First off, the Patriots had the ball, 3rd and 1 at the Giants' 42-yard line. They run the ball for a two-yard loss, bringing up 4th and 3 from the 44-yard line. Now, any team I could see a case either way for either going for it or punting it. But the New England Patriots? This seems like an automatic go for it situation. This is the #1 offense in NFL history, and they punt? They end up getting touchback, for a net punt of a little over 20 yards. I honestly don't see the point of doing this, and really doesn't seem like how the Patriots normally roll.

Apologies if this next play came first, but the Pats had a very similar situation come up, and took another completely bizarre approach to it. 4th and 12 at the Giants 32-yard line. So, we're talking about a 49-yard field goal, indoors, seems like a pretty makable field goal for any NFL kicker. But NE decides to go for it? On 4th and 12? When you have a good chance to pick up 3 points? Just a bizarre play, and of course NE doesn't convert and the Giants get the ball back.

Finally, late in the game with the Giants down 14-10, the Patriots run a big blitz with the Giants at about the 25-yard line. This results in the Giants' receivers ending up in one-on-one coverage. Now, I'm not sure if the Patriots are aware of this, but there is a receiver by the name of Plaxico Burress on the Giants who is 6'5" 230lbs and one of the better possession receivers in the league. All he's wanted all game probably is to get into single coverage. So the Patriots all out blitz, and Eli just calmly lobs it up to Plax who makes the easy TD catch. This play call is just baffling to me. There are 30 seconds left in the game, and New England is winning by 3. Considering the Giants are in field goal range, to me the goal should be to prevent the TD at all costs, so that at worst they kick the field goal and we end up going to OT. I mean, really, that's it. The Giants have no more time outs. They're 25-yards away from the end zone. Just keep your coverage deep and make them kick the field goal.

I was just baffled by this play as I watched it unfold. For a team like New England who is so technically sound to just completely blow it in a situation like that...there just aren't words.

Congrats to the Giants, I must admit, I didn't expect them to win by having Eli outplay Brady and Coughlin to outcoach Belichick.

So, I didn't feel like I could just lay my hand down to his bet on the flop. I wanted to see if he was just c-betting, so I raised it up to $15. Given his smooth call, and another bullet on the turn, I didn't feel like there was any way I could stick with the hand. Anyone get a different read there? I put him on AK or AJ maybe.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=205
Poker - Flopped Full Houses never win (Part 2)]]>Anyways, this isn't the most disgusting full house loss I've seen (See my previous Full House post), but it's close.

At this point I'm pretty confident that one of them has an ace, so I feel safe in pushing knowing that I'm going to get some action.

Mike_Maloneyraises to 1,525, and is all injg128 has 15 seconds left to act
jg128 calls 1,020, and is all indawg1044 folds
Mike_Maloney shows []
jg128 shows []
Uncalled bet of 210 returned to Mike_Maloney*** TURN *** [] [] (ewwww)*** RIVER *** [] []
Mike_Maloney shows a full house, Sixes full of Aces
jg128 shows a full house, Aces full of Queens
jg128 wins the pot (3,360) with a full house, Aces full of Queens

Brutal. Other guy said he had JJ, which is possible. I was so disillusioned by all the anal raping done at the hand of those S&Gs I unregistered for the Token Frenzy and didn't even bother registering for the Mookie. I can already feel the tilt that would happen if I played.

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Poker - OmaDraw]]>Chad's "Skillz" Series last night, I sat down at a couple $0.50/$1 Limit O8 cash tables to warm up my brain. I think I ended up about $40 after playing for 90 minutes or so, and I don't even know that I played all that well.

There were some truly bad players, actually most of them were pretty bad. I remember I had one guy on my left whose only requirement to raise preflop involved him holding A2. The other two cards were irrelevant, if he had A2 he was raising it up. I would win some pots, or at least chop them, and look to see what my opponents were holding, and I was just stunned that they would ever even bother playing that hand to begin with. On more than one occasion I would shockingly scoop a pot instead of just picking up the high because I have A4 and there are people calling my river bets with nothing for the high and A7 for the low thinking that it's good. Sets are gold in a 4-way pot with three flush cards out, apparently, as people had no problem betting into me and calling my raises after I flop the nut flush and the board never pairs. Really, the only bothersome part of my session was running into quads twice when I had AA. I didn't play it hard, but I feel like even in Omaha it's tough to put someone on quads. Maybe that's something I should look out for a bit more.

I ended up busting out in 12th in Chad's game. This came about due to me getting my ass handed to me about 20-30 minutes earlier when my flopped set of jacks ran into a flopped full house (threes over jacks) and I just overplayed my set. So I just hovered with around 2,000 in chips as the blinds escalated, and finally tried to play back with a measly TP holding against a button who had been raising my blinds pretty frequently. He had flopped a set, and that's all for me. Not a good finish for me, but I thought I played okay the rest of the time. I didn't get to see nearly as many flops as I would have liked, as I felt like my starting cards were particularly awful (Especially compared to what I was getting at the cash game). However, I also think my tourney play needs some work, as I have trouble keeping my range wide as the blinds escalate, causing me to wait too long for hands at times.

It didn't seem like there were a lot of people who had a real solid grasp on how to play O8. There were definitely those people who were quick to fold as well as those people who don't necessarily know when to fold as opposed to trying to draw out on their opponent. Still, I had a pretty good time 'grinding it out' in a limit game, and it was nice to finally make some kind of a decent showing at one of these games, even if it's just a 12th place finish. I might have to try some more $0.50/$1 Limit O8, and if that continues to be as easy as it's been, maybe I'll check out the $1/$2 tables.

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Entertainment - LOST: Season 1 Revisited]]>Anyways, I've been re-watching Season 1 of LOST lately, usually an episode before I go to bed. There's so much that goes on in this show, I felt like I needed to get reacquainted with the overall story, as well as refresh myself on any details I may have forgotten.

I've made it through the first 8 episodes (Well, 7 I guess since the pilot was one 2-hour episode), and my first thought is that Sawyer is really a much more sympathetic character right off the bat than I remember. Yeah, the guy's an asshole sometimes, immediately starting a fight with the Middle Eastern guy on the plane, and not really going out of his way to help people (like Jack), but overall, it doesn't even matter, because no one gives the guy a chance anyways.

It's funny, because you get this negative first impression of him when he starts the fight with Sayid (Redneck going after a 'terrorist'), which is due to his stereotyping. However, that action causes everyone else in the group to reinforce their own stereotypes about what kind of person Sawyer is. This leads to him becoming an outcast, someone unwanted by the rest of the group despite his attributes and potential contributions to their society (A role he seeks out due to his character flaws, but that's not really the point).

Early on, Sawyer goes through the fuselage, collecting items of interest. People collect clothes, the doctor finds whatever medical supplies he can, and Sawyer looks for the rest. People act like he is despicable for doing this, so much so that when they need something that he has, they never even think to ask nicely for it. For example, Kate needed a laptop battery, instead of asking Sawyer nicely if he had one, she goes around demanding things. Sawyer in turn gives her a hard time, and eventually gives her the battery.

Then, Shannon had an asthma attack because her inhaler was empty. What's the first attempted solution? Boone starts going through Sawyer's stuff without his permission (Because he assumes Sawyer has the extra inhaler meds since he was reading a book that was in Boone's luggage), and then Sawyer is made out to look like the bad guy when they end up getting into a fight about it. So this leads Jack to go on a holy crusade and demand that Sawyer give him the meds. Of course this is never the way to get anything from Sawyer, so Kate tries to talk to him, since she seems to be the only one who understands how to communicate with him (And even then she is awful at it sometimes too). He actually agrees to give it to her for a kiss, which she doesn't go for. Jack eventually lets Sayid talk him into the idea of torturing Sawyer, which leads us all to discover that Sawyer doesn't actually have the meds everyone assumed he had. He gets stabbed by Sayid in the process and almost bleeds to death. Now, again, Sawyer was obviously being difficult about the whole process, but no one even ever bothered to ask him if he had the meds, and if he did, if they could use them.

There are other instances, too. Charlie asked Sawyer to tell Kate about Jack being trapped in one of the caves, so when Sawyer tracks her down to tell her she responds by telling him that he doesn't have anything to tell her that she could possibly want to know. Or when Sayid is knocked out trying to set up the transponder, he is easily persuaded by Locke that Sawyer was able to knock him out despite having to be 2 km away seconds earlier to set off a bottle rocket (If he really wanted to sabotage the operation he could have just destroyed the equipment he was supposed to be activating), which is what led to Sayid torturing Sawyer. He also couldn't be trusted with their only gun despite using it to save everyone's lives by killing a polar bear.

I'll be very interested to see at what point in time people start to change their stance on him. The latest episode ended with he and Kate kissing (Although Kate elbowed him the face shortly thereafter), but she's been coming around on him for a little while now. I think Jack's moment is when Sawyer realizes he met Jack's father in Australia. It's just an interesting situation, because Sawyer is set up to be the bad guy from day one, but looking back on it now, he's easily the most misunderstood and sympathetic character of the bunch, and it amazes me the hatred everyone dishes out to him, then seem appalled when he doesn't jump at the chance to help anyone.

So, enough about Sawyer. Let's talk about the most worthless character on the show, Boone. I definitely didn't realize it at the time, but making him the first casualty of the show seems completely necessary. I might feel a little more sympathetic towards his cause when I get to his flashback episode, but for right now, he totally sucks. I think when I originally watched this season, I hated Shannon more than anyone. While she is overall pretty worthless as a character, she does have some redeeming moments (Her French translation, taking care of Vincent when Michael and Walt take off).

What does Boone ever do on the show? He almost drowns until Jack saves him, which in turn causes a woman to drown because Jack didn't have time to save them both. Boone went in to save her, but since he's bad at everything he does, he just gets in the way. Then he steals the rest of the water without telling anyone. Again, he's trying to be helpful, but ends up causing a witch hunt while everyone suspects people of taking the water (On a side note, this also leads to people assuming Sawyer took it). Then there was the asthma incident, where he just feels like he has a right to go through Sawyer's stuff, which results in him getting beat up, and everyone ends up more pissed off at Sawyer than they needed to be.

I know he ends up doing something worthwhile when they find the plane, and there's the hatch, etc. But it's not like that isn't something that anyone else could have helped Locke with (ie. Charlie in particular). I'm just surprised at how completely incompetent his character is, and how little he adds to show outside of increasing the tempers of everyone around him.

Just a few other quick hits:

-I forgot how early on we realized Sun spoke English. I thought the first time was when she had to save Jin after the raft incident, not when she had to save Jin after the handcuff incident.

-Locke is a really dangerous character. He embraces his new role as the 'wilderness' expert, but he doesn't have much regard for the lives of others. He put untrained lives in danger when they went boar hunting, he used Charlie unknowingly as bait to catch a different boar, obviously we all know what happens to Boone later. I know he gets pretty stubborn later on when dealing with Jack, but even in the beginning he was in that mindset.

-I wonder if it was Rousseau that hit Sayid, or if it was one of the Others. I don't remember if Rousseau reveals that or not, I guess I'll have to wait and see. If she doesn't, I like the theory that it was one of the Others. Makes sense.

-It's sad knowing that Claire's abduction is coming up. I really liked the relationship she had with Charlie, and it's never really the same again after that.

I think that's about all I have. Really fun watching the show again for the second time to see how things that happen in the beginning build up to later events, knowing now how some things happen. I'll probably try and do this again once I get through another chunk of episodes or once something else pops into my head that I need to talk about.

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Poker - Warning: Bloggers are bad omens...]]>Hoy. For those of you who don't already know, this is never a good sign when your starting table pops up:

I thought a little bit about just jamming, because the first hand saw two people push all-in with AQ so I thought I might get a call, but instead I just opted for the re-raise to see how things go

plmstone folds
CandyAddict760 folds
Stinkys99 calls 240
*** FLOP *** []
Mike_Maloney has 15 seconds left to act
Mike_Maloney bets 200
plmstone has been disconnected
Stinkys99 raises to 1,140, and is all in

I tend to not give the average MTT player much credit in their abilities unless I know better. Therefore I felt like throwing out a super weak bet, like I was re-raising with AK or AQ preflop. Obviously he took the bait.

gg me. Effing bloggers, it's like the automatic curse of death to get one of them at your starting table.

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Sports - Bill Simmons is a Jackass sometimes]]>column out. The topic? Comparing the 1986 World Champion Boston Celtics and the 2007 New England Patriots. The only problem with this column? The Super Bowl for the 2007 season isn't for another two and a half weeks, and the Patriots haven't even earned a spot in the game, let alone won it. So yes, let's compare the greatness of two teams, especially when one hasn't even finished its season yet.

I seem to remember something like this happening a couple years ago. I believe it was when ESPN decided to name that year's USC team the greatest college team of all time. So what happened to the Trojans? Why, they went on to lose to Vince Young in the National Championship game.

Now, I would venture to say that the Patriots are probably more dominating in the NFL than USC was in college football. That being said, Simmons is doing a fantastic job of jinxing them to hell with all these proclamations of greatness when they haven't even won the AFC Championship. Idiot.

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Poker - MATH Bustout Thoughts]]>I don't have the exact hand history with me (But don't worry, I can still remember it better than Hoy), but, suffice to say we were six-handed, I was in the CO, the blinds were probably 40/80, and I had about 3,000 in chips.

So I'm holding , and UTG and UTG+1 limp in, so I limp to because A-rag sooted is gold. I think it was either 4 or 5 to the flop. Flop comes , giving me the nut flush draw and a one-ended straight flush draw.

So, before anyone even acts, what's your plan here? We're only about a half hour into the tournament, probably still about 24 out of the original 31 left. I'm drawing to 9 outs for the flush, 3 more for the straight, and maybe 3 aces depending on where I'm at. So, I want to play this hand strong. However, UTG bets out about 1/3 or 1/2 of the pot, then UTG+1 re-raises to about 540.

So now what? Have your intentions changed at all? Is there any way that you just fold the hand? Is it feasible to call here? This is where I'm curious to hear what people might do in this situation. Like I said, I feel like I was being too "meh" about putting my tournament life on the line with a drawing hand (albeit a strong one). I ended up re-raising to 1100 or so, UTG+1 pushes, I call and he shows a set of . I don't improve, and he even DQBs me on the river, and I'm out.

What do you think is the right play there? Do I need to ignore my draws and wait for a made hand against someone who seems to have something good? Or is it okay to take a risk like that early on in the tournament? I'm not really sure what I should have done, to be honest.

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Sports - One More Step...]]>2. What a complete steamroll job over the Seahawks on Saturday. The fumbles by Grant early on were painful to watch, but the 42-6 run by the Packers after that was a thing of beauty. Six touchdowns on six straight drives after that along with a shut down by the defense. I knew Seattle wasn't a very good team, but 250 yards rushing? Awesome.

3. Dallas stumbles a bit going into the post-season, and it bites them in the ass as the G-Men get it done in Dallas. What does this mean? Well, it's pretty much the optimal situation for the Packers, because next week's NFC Championship is going to be played here:

You damn right. One more game until the Super Bowl. Time to get it done. Just believe that this man will lead us to the Promised Land once again:

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Personal - Why must I cost $1,600?]]>Anyways, when I first decided to put together this site, one of the things I pondered for a while was the domain name. Obviously, I would love to have the domain name mikemaloney.com. It's very easy for people to remember, and if I tell someone to check out something on my site, mikemaloney.com, chances are pretty good that they're going to remember.

Unfortunately, as is often the case with domain names that are even slightly common, it was already taken. I ended up going with secondcitysaint.com, partially because back when I was big into pro wrestling, there was a tag team called the Second City Saints. I always thought it was a cool name, and a friend of mine actually suggested using it, since I'm from Chicago it applies in that sense.

Anyways, the other day I decided to get a price quote to see how much mikemaloney.com would cost to buy, just for kicks. Their response? $1,600! For a web domain! And not even a popular one, for some guy's name. I've done a Google search for Mike Maloney. There aren't really any OMG popular Mikes out there. Hell, I'm the 7th listing on the results page! And yet mikemaloney.com costs $1600? So, so lame.

I would love to own my domain. I would certainly be willing to pay money for it. $1600 is quite a bit of money, though, and I'd have to have a bunch of cash just sitting around for me to put down that kind of money on a domain name. I guess it could be a poker goal of mine to win that money, but there are other things that are higher up on my list of Stuff to Get With My Poker Money.

Sorry for the random post, just wanted to complain about how valuable my name is, apparently.

So, to preface this hand, I gave mason1014 very little credit here for actually having a hand. He and I had been going back and forth at each other all night. So I didn't think much of his initial raise, and to be honest, I still didn't think much of his re-re-raise either (And with good reason, as you can see). The thing that did worry me is after I pushed it up to $5 and kashman straight jams after calling my previous re-raise. At that point, though, I've got $50 to call into a $250 pot, so I probably can't really fold there.

Of course the person that actually wins the main pot was a 9% favorite preflop, and I was a measly 67% favorite.

Then, literally two minutes later in the Mookie, I lose all my stack on these two hands:

Literally the first hand of the game. I call a small raise with suited connectors, and hit the flop hard. I don't get too invested, probably for the best considering he turned a full house. So I'm already tilting a bit from the KK hand, along with immediately losing a third of my stack on the first hand in the Mookie, so I make an aggro preflop jam with AK, which looks to be a good play until I get two-outted:

Gotta love the instacall with the JackAce. If I didn't know any better I'd think maybe I accidentally signed into Hoy's account.

I'm just frustrated because I've been getting completely killed at the cash games lately. I think I've dropped something like six buy-ins in the last month, and only a couple are due to bad beats, most I can pretty much blame on me and stupid play. It's tough, and not something I want to see happen after I felt like I was making some real progress at 100NL. I had taken a bit of a break with the wedding and the BBTwo going on, and hadn't played much over a couple months, and it doesn't look like the break was too helpful. I need to work on getting my A game back. Mostly just stop making bad calls and trust your read. If your read tells you that your beat, go with that, most likely you will be correct.

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Site Update - Updated Blogroll]]>]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=193
Site Update - Hand History Formatting]]>. I might tweak it some more, but I'm pretty happy with it so far.

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Poker - BBTwo TOC Recap]]>jeciimd for actually winning the Tournament of Champions, and earning himself a trip to Australia to play in the Aussie Millions. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous of his win, and his ability to do what I couldn't, but at the same time, I'm really happy that the package was given to one of our more prominent bloggers, and on top of that, someone who can actually play poker and represent our group well down under. I still think it's unbelievable that the person that ended up at the top of the BBTwo leaderboard actually won the TOC. I think that's comparable to the #1 team in the country going on to actually win the NCAA basketball tournament in March, given all the different teams that have a shot it seems extremely unlikely to happen. So congrats to the doc for pulling out it out, hopefully we hear good things from him in a few weeks.

For me, a large reason why I spend time on these recaps is to educate myself on how to be a better poker player. First of all, I spend lots of time just reviewing tournaments in my head, thinking about key hands, overall tendencies, etc., just in preparation for what I'm about to write. Then I go through PokerTracker and pull out the hands of note, and blog about what I did and why.

Going in, I expected play to be fairly tight from everyone, considering this was a winner take all situation. The structure was nice and slow, 3,000 starting stack, 12-minute levels, and some extra levels thrown in. At the end of the second hour, the blinds were only at 120/240 I think. Sure enough, people did start out very tight, and it took 30 minutes just to eliminate the first person, and we only had about 5 or 6 out after the first hour.

I caught some cards early, picking up QQ, KK, and JJ in the first 12 hands, for a net of +715. Nothing else really of note, stole some blinds, folded to some re-raises, didn't really see many other flops. This was the first significant hand I had (about a half hour in), and really, big props to VinNay for making a sick laydown and not getting stacked here:

Vin actually blogged about this hand too, which he labelled under "The Bad" in his analysis. I guess it's bad considering his low chipstack following the hand, but really, I thought it was a phenomenal laydown on his part. He had KK, and instead of interpreting my raise on the turn as me hitting the Jack, his thought process is solid, and he makes the painful laydown knowing that out of all the hands I probably have, QQ is all he could beat. Really well done on his part.

I have to wonder if the min-raise was a bad move on my part. If I push, is he more likely to call? I don't know if I can call the turn and still get him to bet on the river. If anyone has any thoughts on what I could have done to get his whole stack, I would appreciate it. It was a nice hand for me, but I was definitely disappointed that I didn't get everything from him.

I got caught a little later dicking around in position, going for a LP raise with Q6o, then trying to push someone out on an A-high flop and eventually folding to a river bet. Only lost about 500 chips, but still, probably a bad move on my part.

Whole lot of nothing for a while after that, saw a few flops, but really stayed about even with my steals and losing to the blinds. Fast forward about 40 minutes from the last hand, and I pick up QQ, and raise on the button to 350, hoping that it's looked at as a steal attempt. budohorseman takes the bait, and pushes his short stack of 930 in, which is really exactly what I was hoping for. He flips over and I get a nice 20% boost to my stack, jumping up to about 5,600.

I severely overplay 99 about 20 minutes later, calling an EP raise in the BB, then check-raising a value bet on a K-high flop, but folding to the re-raise. Not a great situation to put myself in, and I took a bit of a hit there, dropping me below 4,000.

I was starting to get a little worried, as my stack was dwindling, eventually dropping to 2,400 chips, with the blinds at 80/160. An hour and a half in, I picked up my only pair of Aces for the evening, and was able to pick up an extra 800 chips on a 727QQ board. Too many pairs had me hesitant to play them too hard, and I couldn't have picked up much more from them anyways.

I re-steal with AQ shortly there after from a very aggro Loretta who will never pass up an opportunity to steal the blinds in LP. I had Loretta to my direct right, and had been observing this behavior all night, so I was fortunate to get the opportunity to exploit it a little later:

First off, I'm most likely not folding this hand no matter who is in the SB. However, considering it was Loretta who re-raised, I was pretty much convinced that I was maybe racing, but there was a good chance I had him dominated. Loretta had a significant stack, but I still question the idea that you 'have' to call an additional 15 percent of your stack off with , regardless of the odds you're getting. Especially considering I basically insta-pushed that hand. Did not enjoy the flop, obviously, but the turn brought sweet, sweet justice, and gave me a nice stack that I could work with.

More folding by me after that, until a little after the second break, I take a stand in the BB with the almighty QTo:

I don't mind calling this preflop, it's 550 into a 1300 chip pot, and he has a wide range since he's stealing on the button. The flop was basically perfect for me, and I decided to check-raise for two reasons: 1. I was almost sure I was ahead here, and if I bet out on the flop, I probably wasn't going to get a call, and 2. Calling in the big blind, then checking the flop is often a good way to induce a c-bet from your opponent, because they will assume there is a good chance that the flop missed you and that you will fold to pressure.

Now, I'm not dumb enough to think my hand is invulnerable, so there's no way I'm just going to slow play and call. The push was to make sure he would just go away after giving me a further 20% of his stack post-flop.

That was the last big hand for me until the final table, which I went into I believe about fifth or so in chips. I didn't get much going to start out, and soon I found myself the shortstack with seven remaining. I found Presto for the second time that night, and for the second time it got me a double up:

I don't hate this play, but I don't exactly love it, either. There are a few different factors that fed into this decision. huntsvegas was the chipleader, and had been since the final table started. He was, of course, directly to my left, which meant I really wanted his stack smaller than it was. Also, my M was floating at just above 5, and I was the shortstack, so I definitely needed something to happen. I felt like I still had some fold equity, so I thought it was possible to push here and induce a fold.

So, some things that make this not such a great move is the fact that I'm holding 55. Sure, the fact that it's Presto gives it a better shot of winning than some mediocre middle pair like 77 or 88, but still, I could very easily be running into a higher pair, or at best I'm against two overs if my opponent calls. At some point in time your stack has to be low enough to where you're willing to go the felt in a race situation. Given what's at stake for the winner, is my push here the right move? I'm not entirely sure. I thought his call with AJo was a little on the loose side, considering he's calling off 20% of his stack. I guess I can't complain too much considering the results.

This got me back into the thick of things, and I was now third in chips. I kept afloat after this, getting as high as second in chips, not getting too much to work with outside of JJ one hand. Then came my knockout hand, 4-handed, three hours into the tournament:

My feelings on this hand are pretty similar to the recent Presto hand, but there are some differences. I am third in chips, but really there is a clear chip leader, and three of us at about the same level. My M is much more manageable now at about 9. These are all reasons that I should be careful about overplaying a hand like 77. Actually, I want to reference back to the JJ hand I mentioned I had picked up a little before this:

See, this is what more along the lines of what I should have done with my 77. I specifically remember just smooth calling with JJ because I knew it wasn't a real strong hand and I didn't want to overplay it and get caught in a bad situation. So I just call, and then check the flop and put in a raise based on my read that his c-bet was weak and I had the best hand.

The 77 hand, instead I choose to make a move that should be reserved for more desperate situations than what I was in. I could have just called, then folded on huntsvegas' push, or I could have even folded given the position I had. Now, don't get me wrong, I could have had QQ and pushed and the hand would have played out the same way, it was just unlucky for me that the big blind happened to have AA. But that doesn't change the fact that pushing here with 77 given the circumstances surrounding the hand was most likely not the best play here. It's unfortunate that I made this mistake and didn't realize it until after the fact, but it's also important that the mistake is realized, because it will help me be a better player in the future.

Overall, I was pretty happy with my play. There were several hands that I called with in the big blind, then check-folded the flop. I was very frustrated with my plays at the time, and kept telling myself not to do it, but I just couldn't pull the trigger like I should have. They were weak plays by me. For the most part, however, I did a nice job of avoiding mistakes like that. I played very, very tight, only seeing about 8% of the flops, which is super tight even for me. But the structure allowed for it, and I felt like it was the best approach (look at jec, obviously it works). As tough of a loss as this was, it was also a big confidence booster for me and my play, knowing I was able to outlast a number of players I consider superior to me in ability in a tournament with more of a prize pool than any I've been in with them before.

My focus was very solid, and I wish I could always have that kind of focus when I play. It really makes the game a lot easier in certain aspects, and stops you from making stupid mistakes.

That's about all I've got on the TOC, any thoughts you might have on anything I've said are always appreciated.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=191
Personal - Shopping]]>I guess I must be an unseen source of emotional support. I know it has nothing to do with my usefulness, since I don't really feel qualified to answer a question like 'Do you like the long suit coat or the short suit coat?' Then again, I usually carry the heavy bags, so I suppose I serve some purpose, even if it's only manual labor.

And yes, I'm writing this from outside the fitting rooms in New York & Company, in case you were wondering.

Honestly, I'm not quite as devastated as I thought I might be. I'm definitely disappointed to get that close and fall short, it reminds me a bit of my my third place finish in the $24k back in July. I am happy that I played well enough to make it to the final table, and to finish in 4th place, especially considering someofthecompetition.

I do want to break down this tournament, because I want to reflect on how I played. There are definitely some things I need to work on (Like not having lucko run over me at the FT because I turned into a calling station preflop). But that will probably be this weekend some time, because it's late. Maybe if I was going to Australia I would be a bit more energized and wouldn't care as much about staying up for an hour or two longer. Ah well. Good luck to whoever ends up taking it down.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=189
Personal - Wedding Collage]]>EDIT: I uploaded the video to YouTube instead, since I couldn't get it to stop auto-playing in Windows Media Player every time someone visits this page.

EDIT again: YouTube only allows videos under 10 minutes, and this one is 12. Blah. Now it's uploaded to Google Videos, which works fine, even though they're all owned by the same company. Don't understand at all.

And one more EDIT: Google Video took it down for no discernable reason, so it's getting hosted on my site instead.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=188
Poker - MATH Recap]]>The first hour of the tournament or so, I definitely got some nice cards, also hit some flops, and most importantly, got my opponents chips into the middle.

FullTiltPoker Game #4384738547: Mondays at the Hoy (32953693), Table 4 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:03:26 ET - 2007/12/03
Seat 1: bayne_s (2,925)
Seat 2: cracknaces (3,000)
Seat 3: katiemother (3,000)
Seat 4: VinNay (2,955)
Seat 5: Mike_Maloney (3,150)
Seat 6: ChapelncHill (2,970)
ChapelncHill posts the small blind of 15
bayne_s posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to Mike_Maloney [ As]
cracknaces folds
katiemother folds
VinNay raises to 90
Mike_Maloney calls 90(Easy call here on the button)ChapelncHill folds
bayne_s calls 60
*** FLOP *** []
bayne_s checks
VinNay bets 240
Mike_Maloney calls 240(TPTK is most likely good here, and I want him to lead out again on the turn, so I just opt to call)bayne_s has 15 seconds left to act
bayne_s folds
*** TURN *** [] []
VinNay bets 390
Mike_Maloney has 15 seconds left to act
Mike_Maloney calls 390(Maybe I should have raised here, since there are some draws out there, I just opted to call instead)*** RIVER *** [] []
VinNay checks
Mike_Maloney checks(Not a great river card, and there's not much more to gain from this hand by betting out, and if I get check-raised, I don't know that I can call)*** SHOW DOWN ***
VinNay shows [] a pair of QueensMike_Maloney shows [ As] a pair of Queens
Mike_Maloneywins the pot (1,545) with a pair of Queens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,545 | Rake 0
Board: []
Seat 1: bayne_s (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: cracknaces didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: katiemother didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: VinNay showed [] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 5: Mike_Maloney (button) showed [ As] and won (1,545) with a pair of Queens
Seat 6: ChapelncHill (small blind) folded before the Flop

Nothing special there, I played the hand a little conservative, but it was pretty early on, I didn't want to get too aggressive with TPTK.

So, here's an interesting hand between Fuel and I, that ends up coming into play later.

Fuel is a much, much stronger NLHE player than I am, so I certainly get a kick out of pulling off a hand like that. Bluffing like that against someone with actual skill is not something I'm good at by any stretch of the imagination, so I'm going to enjoy my rare success.

So at this point I'm either the chipleader, or very close to it (I had a big hand where I flopped trip sixes, but Poker Tracker didn't pick it up, apparently). Once I jumped up to the top of the leaderboard, I don't think I ever dropped below 8th for the rest of the tournament. I'm pretty happy that I was able to keep up that kind of chip stack throughout. Anyways, this was a tough hand to swallow:

Seat 2: Mike_Maloney (7,490)
Seat 6: actyper (1,375)
Proehl posts the small blind of 40
Mike_Maloney posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to Mike_Maloney []
Astin folds
TheCloserX5 folds
actyper has 15 seconds left to act
actyper raises to 240
Proehl folds
Mike_Maloneyraises to 480 (So this is one of two shorties at the table. I opt for the min-raise, just to see where I'm at. If he folds, so be it, I don't like flat calling with QQ out of position)actyper raises to 1,375, and is all inMike_Maloney has 15 seconds left to act
Mike_Maloney: hmm, probably can't fold this
Mike_Maloney calls 895(I thought it was interesting that actyper commented to me after the hand his surprise that I even considered folding. Honestly, I wasn't seriously considering it, but I did give it some thought. This is another 15% of my stack to call here, and QQ is a good hand, but it's not the nutz. Still, I probably can't really justify a fold in this situation)actyper shows [Th ]
Mike_Maloney shows []
*** FLOP *** [](Oh yeah, that's why I should have considered folding a little more)*** TURN *** [] [Ad]
*** RIVER *** [ Ad] []
actyper shows three of a kind, Tens
Mike_Maloney shows a pair of Queens
actyper wins the pot (2,790) with three of a kind, TensArgh, a 3,000 chip pot. That hurt my stack a bit, but it wasn't crippling by any means.

So, here is another interesting set of hands I had with Hoy. Two hands after the above hand history, I was moved to Hoy's table. Blinds were 40/80, and Hoy was sitting at around 2,500 chips, so his M was around 20. Here's my 4th hand at the table:

Seat 3: hoyazo (2,340)
Seat 4: Mike_Maloney (7,500)
hoyazo posts the small blind of 40
Mike_Maloney posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to Mike_Maloney [As ]
Esquire80 folds
a104l9 folds
columbo folds
riggstad folds
columbo: Ravens lead AGAIN
hoyazo raises to 240
Mike_Maloney calls 160(I could have probably re-popped him here, but it's just the JackAce, and I don't want to get too committed with a hand like that. Plus, just calling keeps my range that he can put me on a lot wider)*** FLOP *** []
hoyazo: *crosses fingers
hoyazo checks
Mike_Maloney checks(I totally whiffed this flop, and if Hoy has any kind of a pair or a couple spades I'm getting check-raised, so I opt to check too)*** TURN *** [] []
hoyazo has 15 seconds left to act
hoyazo checks
Mike_Maloney bets 480(Now we're in a different situation. Hoy not only checked the flop, but he checked the turn as well. I can't imagine he has a monster like trips, he probably would have bet out with the flush draw on the flop, and certainly if a third flush card drops on the turn. I also don't see him checking his flush draw on the flop, and then checking his flush on the turn as well. I have complete crap, but taking Hoy's chip stack into account, I like my chances of pushing him out of the hand)hoyazo has 15 seconds left to act
hoyazo folds
Uncalled bet of 480 returned to Mike_MaloneyMike_Maloney mucks
Mike_Maloneywins the pot (480)

Hoy would then raise the next hand on the button and pick up the blinds. So then, two hands later (Effing Full Tilt missed another hand history, probably because it was the last hand before a table change), I have Aces. Hoy is in UTG+1, and raises up to 300 (Leaving behind about 1900 chips). Blinds are up to 50/100, by the way. I opt for the call again, since Hoy's pretty aggressive, I play it conservatively. Flop comes 9-high I think, no real draws out there. Hoy checks, and I check back, remembering how our last encounter went. Turn was another blank, so Hoy thinks, and just pushes. I'm relatively sure that I'm ahead here, but I give it some though, because I'd hate to get him mad with my insta-call :) He flips over AK, and that's all she wrote.

So, I'm at a new table, at Mookie's table. Real quick hand, not much to add, but this is why you don't slow play your big pairs.

Seat 3: Mike_Maloney (9,470)
Seat 5: actyper (3,160)
actyper posts the small blind of 50
katiemother posts the big blind of 100
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to Mike_Maloney []
madbrooklyn folds
mookie99 folds
Mike_Maloneyraises to 350
cardgrrl folds
actyper has 15 seconds left to act
actyper raises to 1,000
katiemother folds
Mike_Maloney calls 650(Loose call, but I have position and getting 2:1)*** FLOP *** [7s Kc]
actyper has 15 seconds left to act
actyper checks
Mike_Maloney checks(I like my pair, don't like the two overs)*** TURN *** [7s Kc] []
actyper has 15 seconds left to act
actyper checks
Mike_Maloney checks(Maybe I should have bet here to see if I was ahead, but I still don't really like my hand, so I check again)*** RIVER *** [7s Kc ] []
actyper checks
Mike_Maloney has 15 seconds left to act
Mike_Maloney bets 250(Haha, yahtzee! Let's squeeze a bit more out of him)actyper calls 250
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Mike_Maloney shows [] three of a kind, Sevens
actyper mucks
Mike_Maloneywins the pot (2,600) with three of a kind, Sevens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,600 | Rake 0
Board: [7s Kc ]
Seat 3: Mike_Maloney showed [] and won (2,600) with three of a kind, Sevens
Seat 5: actyper (small blind) mucked [] - two pair, Queens and Sevens (Slow play to no pay, baby!)

Hey, if nothing else, it's always fun to show down 9-7 sooted.

Did I play this alright? Was the raise completely stupid and unnecessary? I have to fold to her re-re-raise, right?

Here was me getting a little aggressive, hoping to bring out the Mook's inner Meekie:

Seat 2: mookie99 (10,380)
Seat 3: Mike_Maloney (8,950)
katiemother posts the small blind of 80
madbrooklyn posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to Mike_Maloney [Ah ]
mookie99 raises to 465
Mike_Maloney has 15 seconds left to act
Mike_Maloneyraises to 1,200(Risky re-raise, but I had been playing pretty tight as of late, so I decided to represent a strong hand)cardgrrl folds
IslandBum1 folds
katiemother folds
madbrooklyn folds
madbrooklyn: very
mookie99 has 15 seconds left to act
mookie99 has requested TIME
mookie99 calls 735
*** FLOP *** [ 7s ]
madbrooklyn: always helps
mookie99 checks
Mike_Maloney has 15 seconds left to act
Mike_Maloney bets 2,000(I figure, if I check here, I've lost the hand. I want to throw out a strong bet, showing I'm not afraid of betting out a good portion of my stack, to continue my image of having a monster)mookie99: bahh
mookie99 has 15 seconds left to act
madbrooklyn: ? wsp?
mookie99: hammer ? :)
mookie99 folds(Thank God)Uncalled bet of 2,000 returned to Mike_Maloneymadbrooklyn: I was a maybe, not a yest
Mike_Maloney mucks
Mike_Maloneywins the pot (2,640)

Sorry Mook. Nothing personal. :)

From here on it was pretty slim pickings. I didn't pick up much in the way of cards for the next 75 hands or so, picking up AK once, but nothing else above A-10. No pocket pairs even. wtf? I eventually got to the point where I had to push with crap like J-5 and K-4.

Finally, with the blinds and antes up to 400/800/100, I pick up KK in the big blind, and really, the hand played itself out:

I dodge all 23 of the aces in the deck, get a huge double up, and jump from the bottom of the leaderboard to second or third overall. After that, it was more treading water until we got to the bubble. I hit another big double up when my JackAce held up against riggstad's K-10, which got us to the final table. I was middle of the pack when the final table started, but whiskigrl ended up knocking out a couple people and picking up a sizable stack, and suddenly I was sitting at the bottom with columbo. I still had an M of 10, so I wasn't on life support, but considering NumbBono had me outchipped 2:1 and whiskigrl 3:1, I knew I needed to get something to happen.

Seat 1: NumbBono (48,555)
Seat 2: columbo (27,152)
Seat 3: Mike_Maloney (23,583)
Seat 6: whiskigrl (77,710)
NumbBono antes 125
columbo antes 125
Mike_Maloney antes 125
whiskigrl antes 125
Mike_Maloney posts the small blind of 500
whiskigrl posts the big blind of 1,000
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to Mike_Maloney []
NumbBono folds
columbo folds
Mike_Maloney calls 500(whiskigrl has been aggressive, so I take a chance that my call will be interpreted as weakness and I get raised)whiskigrl raises to 77,585, and is all inMike_Maloney calls 22,458, and is all inwhiskigrl shows [ As](Wow, even better than I thought, only one over!)Mike_Maloney shows []
Uncalled bet of 54,127 returned to whiskigrl
*** FLOP *** []
*** TURN *** [] []
*** RIVER *** [] [](Fawk. Obv rigged)whiskigrl shows three of a kind, Fours
Mike_Maloney shows two pair, Sixes and Fours
whiskigrl wins the pot (47,416) with three of a kind, Fours
Mike_Maloney stands up

Man, brutal way to go. I win that hand, I'm right back in the thick of things, and I feel pretty good about my late game play. 5-outers on the river suck. I just would have liked to take away one of the TOC seats, and finally win the damn Hoy for once. Just wasn't my night.

I got back into the Top 10 on the BBTwo Leaderboard, which is nice, and I've won enough that I should come out at least slightly profitable from all the blonkaments, which is always nice as well. I was pretty happy with my play once we got down to the last few tables, since I don't play a lot of six-max, and with the blinds and antes getting where they were, I had to get pretty aggressive and pick spots to push with some less than optimal cards. I also stayed patient enough to take advantage of some big hands when they came along. If I get knocked out from getting sucked out on, I have to look at that as a success, because I was playing to win and just got unlucky, which inevitably happens.

So what, six tournaments left? It'd be nice to take one down, but otherwise, I guess it's on to the TOC in a few weeks. Going to be tough for sure.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=186
Poker - I hate the MATH]]>Hopefully I can get a long recap up tomorrow, I really thought the whole flow of the tournament was interesting for me.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=185
Poker - Death to the Mookie]]>My cards were absolutely awful. I had AKo once, taken down preflop. I had AQo once, taken down on the flop after c-betting in position. All other aces were ace-rag. I had KQo twice, lost both times. Other than that, I had 99, 88, 44, and 33. And that's about it, aside from a few middle suited connectors. Just complete crap.

Here's the best part, though. Because your starting cards don't matter for shit, because if you hit your hands, then you're gold. I won 9 hands, and the best hand I had out of those 9 hands? Second pair. I was in the blinds, and hit second pair holding 9-3 sooted. I also won a hand with third pair when I was holding 4-4 and bet people out of the hand on a 8-3-K-2 board. That's it. Every other hand was either won preflop or with complete crap.

The whole reason I know all this is because I was bored out of my mind folding for 90 minutes, so I was looking up fun stats in Poker Tracker. I ended up busting when I raised preflop with 88, was re-raised all-in by the button, and called, even though I was fairly sure I was up against a higher pair. So I ran into the QQ of hellory, and that was that. I'm well aware that I should have folded, but I can't say I cared too much at that point.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=183
Poker - Deep in the $750k]]>I'm not going to go through hand histories, there are just too many to bring up. I will touch on a couple of significant hands for me, however.

-First hand, I'm sitting at about 30,000 or so, which is somewhere in the Top 100 (Just outside the money bubble, a little over 600 left), guy to my direct left has me slightly covered, guy to his left is #5 overall in chips, I have everyone else covered. I'm in the BB, and UTG raises, only about 2.5 the BB. It's folded around to me, and I was getting something like 3:1 to call, and I'm holding KQ of hearts. I go ahead and make the call. Flop is K-x-x with two hearts. Part of my poor play in the tournament had been a lot of passive plays that I had been making. Following that mindset, I decided to go for the check-raise here, which I don't totally hate doing. He bets out about 2/3 of the pot, and I re-raise him a little over 3x. He tanks and ends up just calling, leaving about 55-60% of his stack behind him. Turn's a blank, and I put him on AK, a pocket pair below a king, or a draw. I go ahead and push for my last 18,000 into the pot, which at this point was at a little over 20,000. He tanks again and ultimately calls, flips over AK, and I hit my flush on the river. This propels me into the Top 10 in chips. I'm not thrilled with the way I played this, but I'm not 100% how else I should have played it either.

-I reached a high point of about 100,000 chips and 5th place on the leaderboard at one point in time, but I got involved on a couple of hands I probably shouldn't have and lost about 35% of my stack in the process. I wake up with KK UTG, and with a smaller stack, I'm looking to make a move (65,000 is good for about 120th with 200 or so left), so I just limp in. This was not the best time to do that, as I haven't been limping much from EP at this table, but many people probably don't notice that, so it's not a huge red flag. Well, it gets folded around to the BB, this aggro donk, who insta-pushes his stack in (About 120,000), which I insta-call. He flips over AK, then turns a flush draw, but I dodge the 13 aces and 57 spades in the deck and double up to 130,000. That moved me back up into the Top 40, but I lost a chunk of it on the next hand overplaying nines against the same donkey, and never really recovered.

I mentioned a couple hands that cost me a good portion of my stack in the last hand summary, along with the hand I busted on, these were probably the two biggest mistakes I made in the tournament. The first, I raised in LP with 44, was re-raised all-in by the button, and ended up calling. He showed JJ, and doubled up. My raise was only about 8% of my stack, calling his all-in was another 15% or so of it. Not a smart move to get that much money in holding 44 where you're basically praying for a coinflip. The second hand, I had rebuilt much of my stack, and I have 10-10 UTG. I raise it up, UTG+1 re-raises all-in, and the BB calls, also going all-in. It's now about 17,000 for me to call into a pot of about 40,000. I end up calling, with UTG+1 showing AK, and the BB showing JK. Flop comes J-K-x, and I can't catch a break either way and lose about 25,000. I was the favorite preflop, but still only had about a 44% chance of winning the hand. Maybe the smart play there is to fold with two all-ins and look for a better spot than pocket tens to gamble.

Speaking of pocket pairs, aside from the afore mentioned KK hand, I couldn't get a damn thing going for the rest of my big hands. People always complain that they never see AA or KK during tournaments, well I saw them, I just couldn't get any action. It was ridiculous. Very first hand of the tournament, I have KK, raise it up in EP, folded around. Still early on, I get AA on the button, folded around to me, blinds fold to my raise. I had a couple people at least call my preflop raises with AA later on, although they folded to my flop bets. Who cares if you get AA all the time if everyone folds to it?

I attribute my run due to my excellent showdown numbers, I think I was 9 of 12 before I busted, and I had been 9 of 10 before those two hands. Part of that was due to me making good reads and getting my money in ahead, and part of that was me catching some cards.

I'm glad I was able to cash, disappointed I couldn't go further, and wish I had played better overall. I really liked the structure, 3,000 chips, 12 minute levels, and you get to play the fun levels like 10/20, or 1,700/3,400. I don't think antes kicked in until the start of hour 3. There was definitely a lot of time to make moves, which was very helpful.

Thanks to those of you who were railbirding, sorry I couldn't get further than I did. Oh, and per request, I'll probably put a bounty on myself for the Mookie this week.

]]>http://secondcitysaint.com/index.php?id=182
Poker - I run goot]]>raises to 550 (I raised to 175, blinds were 25/50). I "take my time", then re-raise to 1,800, because I figure I'm good here, and at worst a coin flip. BB just calls, which is odd, since he only has 1,100 left, and I only have 800, so we're both committed. But anyways, flop comes K-9-8, he pushes, and I of course already know where this is headed. I call, and he flips over AK, and IGH in 81st. Way to go on the sneaky faux-steal attempt, genius.

Guess I should have just gone back to auto-folding, could have lasted longer than 7 hands.

The NBA Draft is always entertaining to watch, whether it's to see which teams look completely clueless as they make a pick using reasoning that is apparent to no one but that team's management, or to see what kind of wacky trades are going to be pulled off. However, to me, the best part of the NBA Draft by far is to look back on it five, ten years later, and see what teams picked up absolute steals, and what teams completely blew it with their lottery pick. Now, I can't verify this, but I have a feeling that this practice became popular due to the 1984 draft. In case you don't know, this was the draft in which the Houston Rockets selected Hakeem Olajuwon with the #1 overall pick. The Chicago Bulls selected an unknown guy at some small school in North Carolina named Michael Jordan, who would go on to become the best player in NBA history. So what makes this draft so fascinating to reminisce about? That would be the #2 overall pick made by the Portland Trailblazers. This designation goes to none other than Sam Bowie, the original Ryan Leaf. Now granted, Bowie probably gets picked on a little too much because he just happened to be drafted in between two of the greatest NBA players ever. While his career was disappointing, he did play for ten years and averaged 11 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.

So, how does all this play into this particular column? Well, as I mentioned, with the Blazers picking up Sam Bowie, the Bulls were able to draft Michael Jordan, who would be the cornerstone for the Bulls for the next 14 years (Well, 12, technically). Over the next few years, they would draft the likes of Horace Grant, Scottie Pippen (Drafted by Seattle, traded to the Bulls for Olden Polynice), Will Perdue, BJ Armstrong, and Tony Kukoc, all guys who would help the Bulls dominate the 1990s and win six titles in eight years. Okay, Will Perdue was mostly there just to take up space, but he still helped. The point is, the Bulls were able to make good draft picks, and put together a solid team capable of winning championships.

However, once the team dismantled following the 1998 championship, it was time to once again depend on high draft picks to rebuild the team and bring it back into contention. Well, it didn't work out so well this time around, and the Bulls have just recently managed to find a way out of all those losing seasons. Since they are struggling mightily so far this season, I thought it would be fun (or painful) to take a look at the Bulls' draft picks over the past ten years, and see how they panned out, and maybe take a look at a few players that the Bulls could have drafted, but missed out on.

1999

Players drafted by Chicago:

Elton Brand: After losing Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman, and Phil Jackson, the Bulls proceeded to rack up a horrible record, and were rewarded with the #1 overall pick, which was Elton Brand. Brand has proceeded to have an incredibly successful career, putting up 20 points per game and 10.5 rebounds per game, along with 2 blocks, and is one of the top forwards in the league. The problem? The Bulls traded him after two years (He put up 20 and 10 both years) for the rights to draft Tyson Chandler (We'll get to him later).

Brand was probably the most talented player drafted by the Bulls in the post-Jordan era, but the Bulls ended up dumping him to go for a player straight out of high school. Brand now plays for the Clippers and is still putting up solid numbers.

Ron Artest: All-Star #2 drafted by the Bulls in 1999, Artest would play for the Bulls for three years before being traded in 2002 to the Indiana Pacers, along with Brad Miller, for Jalen Rose. This trade could probably be looked on positively or negatively. Artest was averaging 13 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2.5 assists in his time with the Bulls, numbers that went up with increased playing time in Indiana. However, Artest is also a total headcase, and was one of the key instigators in the huge Detroit/Indiana brawl from a few years ago.

Artest was a solid talent, great defensive player, but not the most stable player. Trading him away didn't have to be a total mistake, but dumping him along with a solid center presence in Brad Miller and really only getting someone like Jalen Rose (Who ended up going to Toronto anyways) in return probably was not a good move in hindsight.

Key Misses: With the #1 overall pick, the Bulls did well in picking probably the best player to come out of the draft, despite trading him two years later. Ron Artest was also a solid pick, as there were only two players drafted below him who became All-Stars. One of those players is Andrei Kirilenko, a player who has shown to be very talented, but can be very inconsistent. The real miss here, and to no fault of the Bulls, really, is Manu Ginobli, who was drafted at the end of the second round by the San Antonio Spurs. Foreign-born players are often more of an experiement, and it's more difficult to determine how successful they will be in the NBA.

Actually, this was a pretty good draft for the Bulls, the reason it's looked back upon so negatively is because both draft picks were gone within three years for very little in return.

2000

Marcus Fizer: The Bulls picked up the 4th overall pick in the 2000 draft, and used it to draft another power forward (Brand). Fizer spent 4 years with the Bulls, never averaging above 12.3 points or 5.7 rebounds in a season. After that, he tried to find somewhere else to play, spending a season with the Milwaukee Bucks. He's now out of the NBA, and really did nothing to help the Bulls become a better team.

Jamal Crawford: The Bulls actually drafted Chris Mihm, but immediately traded him to the Cavs for Jamal Crawford. Crawford also spent 4 years with the Bulls. His last year was his best year with the team, scoring 17.3 points a game along with 5.1 assists. After consistent improvement over the four seasons, he was traded to the Knicks.

Key Misses: The 2000 draft was not a very good one, with only three All-Stars coming from the class. However, one of those All-Stars, Michael Redd, went in the second round, not too long after the Bulls had three consecutive picks in the second round (#32-34). Redd was a big miss for the team, as he has developed into a very dangerous shooting guard, while none of the Bulls' picks are still on the team, and only one (Crawford) is still in the NBA, and nowhere near the level of a Michael Redd.

2001

Tyson Chandler: Here's the painful one. The Bulls end up with the #2 overall pick in the 2001 draft. After the Washington Wizards draft Kwame Brown #1 straight out of high school (Stick to playing basketball, MJ), Chicago picks another high schooler, the 7-foot tall Tyson Chandler. The whole reason the Bulls end up with this pick is because they traded Elton Brand to the Clippers. Chandler proceeds to disappoint for several seasons, partially due to his age, and partially due to back problems.

Despite growing into an impressive defensive player, his offensive skills were lacking. After signing a 6-year, $63 million contract, Chandler was traded following the 2005-2006 season, after averaging only 5.3 points and constantly getting into foul trouble. The Bulls had also signed free agent Ben Wallace, who basically played the same role as Chandler. Instead of Wallace being an improvement, however, his skills are deteriorating due to his age, meanwhile Chandler has been have a resurgence in New Orleans, putting up career numbers.

Eddy Curry: Another high school player, Curry was the #4 overall pick. He was supposed to form a duo with Chandler to help turn the Bulls around. However, like most high school players, he struggled, despite showing flashes of his potential. Despite his post-up ability, he often faces criticism for his lack of defense and rebounds. Before the 2005-2006 season, Curry was traded to the New York Knicks. This was an ugly situation, as Curry had been hospitalized at the end of the previous season with an irregular heartbeat. The Bulls requested a DNA test to check and see if he had a heart condition, and Curry refused to take one, citing privacy issues. The Bulls did end up getting two first round draft picks out of the deal, which will be mentioned later.

Key Misses: There aren't a lot of misses here, but the big one is Pau Gasol. Gasol was the #3 overall pick, and would have been a much bigger benefit for the Bulls than Chandler (Especially considering the constant attempts by the Bulls these days to trade for Gasol). Tony Parker also went late in the first round, but he can also be filed away under the category of "Foreign players who seem to be risky to everyone else but the San Antonio Spurs".

2002

Jay Williams: Forget what I said, this was the painful one. Jay Williams, #2 overall pick in the NBA draft. Pretty decent rookie season, nothing spectacular. Then, in the offseason, Williams was in a motorcycle accident, broke his pelvis, severed a nerve in his leg, tore three ligaments in his knee (including his ACL), and hasn't played a basketball game since (Although he tried to make a comeback this year for the New Jersey Nets). So, all the Bulls get from their #2 pick is an average rookie season, and $8 million in the hole.

Key Misses: The loss of Jay Williams might be a little more manageable if not for what the Bulls could have had instead. First off, the Bulls had tied for the worst record in the NBA, giving them and Golden State the best chance at the #1 overall pick, Yao Ming. Instead, that honor goes to Houston, and Chicago ends up at #2. However, dropping all the way down to #9 was a high school player that actually has materialized into a presence, and that's Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire.

2003

Kirk Hinrich: Hinrich was the #7 pick overall, and was the first legitimate piece of the 'New' Chicago Bulls. After many failures, Hinrich has developed into one of the best defensive point guards in the NBA, and is skilled on offense as well. He recently signed a 5-year, $60 million extension, so the Bulls have no interest in parting with Kirk in the near future. Hinrich is the captain of the team, and as such, the team succeeds and struggles based on his play.

Key Misses: Unfortunately for the Bulls, this was one of the years they didn't get a Top 3 pick, otherwise they could have found themselves with someone like Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony, or Lebron James on their team. Still, with the #7 pick, Kirk Hinrich was definitely the best player still available. With Jerry Krause out at GM, new GM John Paxson seemed to have much better vision in making draft picks.

2004

Ben Gordon: Gordon was the #3 overall pick out of UConn, and was another stone in the foundation for the Baby Bulls. He is a dangerous jumpshooter, and has shown to have great propensity to come through in the clutch, hitting big shots at the end of games or putting together big fourth quarters. His size limits his abilities, and he is not a strong finisher in the lane. However, despite his size, he is powerful, which allows him to succeed at the professional level. Gordon declined a 5-year, $50 million extension at the beginning of this season, making him a restricted free agent at the end of the year.

Luol Deng: In what has turned out to be the steal of the draft, the Bulls acquired Deng from the Suns, who drafted Deng as the #7 overall pick. Deng is probably the second-best player to come out of the draft, and has constantly improved his game in each year with the Bulls. He's only 22 years old, so he has not yet reached the peak of his game. Deng has emerged as the most talented all around player on the Bulls, and is another cornerstone on the team from a chemistry standpoint.

Key Misses: Really, there aren't any. Dwight Howard was probably the best player to come out of the draft, and he went #1 overall. The argument could be made that Devin Harris might have been a better pick than Ben Gordon, just because Harris' overall game is stronger, but you can't deny Gordon's scoring ability, and Deng has turned out to be a great pick at #7. It will be interesting to see what the future of these players will be, as both turned down 5-year, $50 million extensions, and will be restricted free agents. Paxson should re-sign Deng unless he's a complete idiot, but Gordon could be tough depending on what kind of money is on the table, considering his limitations as a player.

Now

I'm not going to analyze the 2006 and 2007 drafts (The Bulls didn't have any picks in 2005), since it's too early to figure out how the Bulls made out, and who they might have missed out on. However, thanks to the Eddy Curry trade, the Bulls ended up with two first round draft picks (Thanks Isiah!), which they used to draft Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah, both high energy forwards to help strengthen the front court defensively.

It's tough to think that the Bulls had Elton Brand on their team and dropped him for basically nothing, could have drafted Pau Gasol or Amare Stoudemire, and barely missed out on Yao Ming and Lebron James/Carmello Anthony/Dwayne Wade. While I appreciate what Jerry Krause did for the Bulls, assembling the team that he did in the 1990s, I'm glad he stepped down when he did, because it was pretty apparent that he was not able to see the big picture when drafting lottery picks, which is why the Bulls have had 10 Top 10 overall picks since 1999.

I will say that while John Paxson has done a nice job putting together the team that he wants, this year is really the defining year for this group, and depending on how things go, he's going to have to come to a decision on whether or not this unit can get it done, or if big changes need to be made.

I've noticed some stories come to light regarding most of the major sports teams in Chicago over the past week or so, and while none necessarily deserves an entire column devoted to it, I thought it would be beneficial to discuss these topics briefly and just combine them into one Chicago-themed post.

Football

Let's start with the most current team at the moment, the Chicago Bears. It's no secret that this season has been a pretty big disappointment for the Bears, who have gone from NFC Champions just last year to a lackluster 4-5 start, and a 1-3 divisional record, finding themselves 4 games behind the surprising Green Bay Packers in the NFC North, and 2 games back from any kind of Wild Card contention. Really, outside of the sickening abilities of Devin Hester, there have been few bright spots for the Bears this season. The offense has struggled to score points, and the once feared and vaunted defense has been torched on more than one occasion. Defensively, the team has been hurting a lot from injuries, and has not done a good job of adjusting. But the important news this week out of Bears camp surrounds the offense.

Some time today, the Bears are expected to hold a press conference to announce the starting quarterback for this weekend against Seattle. As most people who have been following the NFL season know, Rex Grossman was the starting QB for the Bears at the start of the year. However, after struggling through the first three games of the season, Grossman was benched for Brian Griese, who came in and was 2-3 as the starter before injuring his shoulder last weekend in Oakland. Rex came in and made his first appearance since being benched, and led the Bears to two scoring drives in the 4th quarter and a victory over the Raiders. Now the dilemma facing Coach Lovie Smith is who does he send back out Sunday against the Seahawks?

On one hand, Brian Griese has shown to be the better quarterback. His numbers aren't stellar, with a completion percentage of 61%, and 9 TDs while throwing 10 IN for a QB rating of 77.1. However, Grossman's numbers are even worse, with a completion percentage of 52%, and only 2 TDs with 6 IN and a QB rating of 53.9. Griese had a solid come from behind win against Philadelphia with a game winning drive to end the game that stretched most of the field. Griese has also thrown for 1500 yards so far. On the other hand, Brian Griese is old, has not shown to be a reliable long-term solution at quarterback for any team he has been on. Rex Grossman is supposed to be the future of this franchise at QB, and unless that attitude is changed, he should be starting for the Bears. He led the Bears to the Super Bowl last year, throwing for 23 TDs and over 3,000 yards. He wasn't always consistent, but in his good games he really showed everyone how talented he can be.

So where do the Bears go from here? I guess it depends on where they stand in regards to their QB position in the long term. The Bears have been looking for a new franchise quarterback pretty much since Jim McMahon. Since 1991 they have started over 20 quarterbacks. Rex Grossman was supposed to be the end of their search, a franchise QB they could look to for the next ten years. His career was marred by injury to start, and last season marked his first full season as a starter. If this is the guy the Bears want to keep as their franchise quarterback, then he needs to continue to start. Critics like to blame Grossman for the Bears' offensive struggles, but when it comes down to it, Cedric Benson has been awful at running back, the offensive line has not done a good job in either pass protection or providing blocking for the run game, and outside of Bernard Berrian the Bears' wide receivers have been largely ineffective. The offense as a whole is to blame, Grossman is merely a part of that.

Now, if the Bears are giving up on Rex, and are looking to bring in another quarterback, it really doesn't matter who they start, Griese's more experienced and has the better numbers, so they could just leave him in for the rest of the season, and address the need in the offseason. I think it's too early to give up on Grossman, considering he only has one full season starting under his belt, and it's not his fault the rest of the offense is underperforming. Either way, until Cedric Benson learns how to run like an NFL-caliber running back, it's going to most likely be hard times for whoever lines up under center for the rest of the season.

Basketball

The Chicago Bulls were considered to be the preseason favorite out of the Eastern Conference by many, or at the very least in the top three. Instead, the Bulls have fallen out of the gate, starting out at 1-5, including losses to the Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks, and most recently a blowout loss to the Toronto Raptors.

There are a number of reasons that the team is struggling, most of which fall on the offensive side of the ball. Kirk Hinrich, a career 41% FG shooter, is shooting 32%, and 15% from behind the arc (38% career), resulting in only 9.3 points per game, down from a career average of 15. Ben Gordon is shooting 35%, down from a career average of 43%, and 31% from 3-point land, down from 41%. His points are only down slightly, which probably means he's shooting the ball too much. Chris Duhon, the Bulls backup point gaurd, has never been a big scorer, but his numbers are also down (FG: 37% vs. 39% career, 3PT: 29% vs. 36%, PPG: 5.8 vs. 7.2), and Thabo Seflosha, the Bulls backup shooting guard, shot 42% in his rookie year last year, and is now shooting only 21%, to go along with a 25% percentage from behind the arc compared to 36% last year. Ben Wallace, who is reported to be suffering from an ankle injury, has looked absolutely awful, shooting a career low 32% from the field, career low 27% from the free throw line, and averaging 3.5 points per game, his lowest average since his second year in league in 1997-98, when he wasn't even a starter and averaged 3.1 PPG. His rebounding is also plummeted to 4.9 rpg, also the lowest average since his second year in the league.

Considering that the Bulls strongest offensive assets over the past few years have been in the backcourt, the fact that all four of their primary guards are struggling to make shots is a huge reason why the team as a whole is playing poorly. Instead, it's the Bulls frontcourt that has been carrying the team so far, save for Wallace. Luol Deng struggled a bit in his first few games, but has found his rhythm, shooting 19-for-41 in his last three games, and averaging 15 points per game. Andres Nocioni has shot 43% from the field and added 12 points per game, although his 3-point shooting has been terrible so far, only shooting 23% so far through the season. Tyrus Thomas has been one of the big positives for the Bulls, averaging over 9 points per game, shooting 46% and pulling in 7 rebounds a game in only 26 minutes a game. Newcomer Joe Smith has probably been the most consistent player for the Bulls, coming off the bench and averaging 20 minutes, but scoring 9 points a game and 5 rebounds, and shooting 45% from the field with a stellar 94% FT percentage. Joakim Noah has struggled on offense, and has not yet made a basket in his three games so far with the team, although he has gotten to the line a few times. Aaron Gray hasn't played enough to have made any kind of impact so far.

This is not a bad Bulls team, and while everyone seems to be clamoring for Kobe Bryant just because the team is struggling, the fact of the matter is most of the issues with this team isn't indicative of the teams' weaknesses. As I said, none of the guards are shooting well, and all are well below their career averages in shooting percentages and points per game. This is something you would expect to improve as the season goes on, as there is no logical explanation why Kirk Hinrich is all of a sudden playing bad basketball. Ben Wallace is an issue, and as long as he keeps playing 27 minutes a game and isn't healthy, he's going to be a liability to this team, both on offense and defense. He's being dominated by other centers when on defense, and can't make a shot or pull down a rebound on offense. It's really in the team's best interest to bench him until he's healthy, or at least limit his playing time and give Smith, Noah, and Gray more of his minutes. There is a rumor that Skiles may stick Gordon back on the bench for the time being, which could benefit the Bulls, as he is taking significantly more shots than everyone else on the team, which is just hurting the offense. Gordon has his limits, and while he is known around the league as a clutch shooter, he is not someone that has the ability to carry this team offensively. Kirk Hinrich needs to step up and play up to his abilities. Until that happens, this team is going to struggle. Hinrich and Deng are the two most important players on the team, and there needs to be consistency from them for the Bulls to find their way.

Baseball

Just a quick Cubs note, the team dealt center fielder Jacque Jones to the Detroit Tigers for infielder Omar Infante, and have sent outfield Craig Monroe to the Minnesota Twins for a player to be named later (Probably a minor league prospect). The Jones deal is interesting, although not terribly surprising. Jones came on strong in the second half of last season, and helped the team out during their divisional run; however, overall his performance with the Cubs was not up to par. He has speed in the outfield, but really lacks a strong throwing arm. He is an aggressive hitter, but frequently strikes out or swings at bad pitches. Felix Pie is waiting in the wings to take over the center field position, although he has struggled a bit with major league pitching, despite crushing the ball in the minors. The whole vibe from this trade is that management (Lou Piniella) wanted Jones out more so than they wanted to make room for Pie (Who is probably not 100% ready for the majors just yet). The Monroe deal is largely irrelevant, as he was brought in late last year to try and help the Cubs' offense against left-handed pitching. He only hit about .200 in his time with Chicago, and really wasn't as effective as the Cubs had hoped he would be.

Hockey

I know, I can't believe I'm actually writing about hockey!

It's no secret that Bill Wirtz, longtime owner of the Chicago Blackhawks, decided at some point in time during the 1990s to completely ruin one of the more historic teams in the NHL, trading away his best players (Jeremy Roenick, Chris Chelios, Ed Belfour, Tony Amonte), not putting any money into the team, and blacking out home games, to entice fans to go to the games instead, even when NHL attendance overall was dwindling.

Well, to the obvious sadness of the Wirtz family, Bill died earlier this year from cancer at the age of 77. However, rising to power in his place is his son, Rockwell, or "Rocky". It's clear already that Rocky has very different views on what's in the best interest of the team and the fans. From SI.com:

"CHICAGO (AP) -- The Chicago Blackhawks announced Monday they will broadcast seven home games this season, changing the policy of longtime owner William Wirtz, who died in September...

... All the games will be available in high-definition on Comcast SportsNet, which the team partially owns. The first game is Sunday against the Detroit Red Wings.

Rocky Wirtz said it was possible that more home games could make it to the air this season and next season.

"If this is a success and we're doing well and bringing people out, we would be crazy not to televise more games," he said."

There's more to the article, good quotes from Rocky. I have heard rumors that the team is working with Comcast Sports Net to air 70 'Hawks games for next season. Outstanding work done so far by the new owner to get the team some exposure to the city of Chicago and hopefully build fan interest. Obviously it's working as I'm actually discussing the Blackhawks without using any words of disdain.

It seems pretty clear from hearing Rocky speak that Chicago is in for a different Blackhawks team going forward, and I hope to see more changes made to the team going forward.

Well, that's all I've got for now. I hope that I'm able to do these every once in a while in the future when there are several current Chicago sports issues out in the news. Thanks for reading.

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Site Update - This blog is above you]]>

I'll try and refrain from using large words from now on, I wouldn't want any of my ramblings to be lost on all you simple folk.

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Poker - I rule]]>

Whee! I couldn't even outlast this donkey. I played AK like a complete jackass, and tried to make a valiant comeback, but got hit by a rivered flush. Stupendous. gg me.

I feel like I've been playing well in the BBTwo so far. I had a 6th place finish in the Mook last week (See post below), and a couple of times I've been close to the points but donked out instead of hanging around until I got to the points. Tonight's tournament went pretty well. I played well, I had a couple suckouts, one significant, but I'm sure everything balanced out in the end. I think the biggest thing that I did during the tournament was get paid from my monster hands. There were a few key hands where my betting process caused people to get their chips in behind. I have a few hands to go over, hopefully it won't get too long:

FullTiltPoker Game #4179061558: The Mookie - DDDNasty II (31525513), Table 4 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:42:09 ET - 2007/11/14
Seat 1: katiemother (6,555)
Seat 2: GCox25 (1,795)
Seat 3: J0DANN1 (5,865)
Seat 4: kben1028 (3,025)
Seat 5: jeciimd (3,220)
Seat 7: RecessRampage (5,095)
Seat 8: DDionysus (4,150)
Seat 9: Mike_Maloney (1,440)
jeciimd posts the small blind of 40
RecessRampage posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to Mike_Maloney []
DDionysus calls 80
Mike_Maloney calls 80 (Now, this is a risky play, limping in UTG+1 after UTG limps, but I was only at half of my original stack getting close to the first break, and I felt like I needed to take a risk here and play my Kings differently. I'm hoping for a raise from someone in LP or in the blinds)katiemother folds
GCox25 calls 80
J0DANN1 folds
kben1028 raises to 160
jeciimd folds
RecessRampage folds
DDionysus calls 80
Mike_Maloney has 15 seconds left to act (So, we have a raise from the button, only a min-raise, but it'll do. I was hoping for a bigger raise, but either way there is at least some money already in the pot. I decided the best option for me was to represent a small pocket pair and jam preflop, trying to force everyone out of the hand, and see if someone has a medium pair they want to call with, or maybe even a couple face cards)Mike_Maloneyraises to 1,440, and is all inGCox25 folds
kben1028 calls 1,280
DDionysus folds
Mike_Maloney shows []
kben1028 shows [ Ac] (Bingo)*** FLOP *** []
*** TURN *** [] []
*** RIVER *** [] []
Mike_Maloney shows two pair, Kings and Twos
kben1028 shows a pair of Twos
Mike_Maloneywins the pot (3,240) with two pair, Kings and Twos
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,240 | Rake 0
Board: []
Seat 1: katiemother didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: GCox25 folded before the Flop
Seat 3: J0DANN1 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: kben1028 (button) showed [ Ac] and lost with a pair of Twos
Seat 5: jeciimd (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: RecessRampage (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 8: DDionysus folded before the Flop
Seat 9: Mike_Maloney showed [] and won (3,240) with two pair, Kings and Twos

Now if I had played that hand more aggressively when it first came around to me, I don't think there's any way I get him to commit those chips. But he was willing to call off his stack in what he thought was a coinflip situation.